Sound of a Bullet
by beautiful-surreal
Summary: A girl from L2 with amnesia. A new Gundam. A familiar face. How does this girl who doesn't know who she's looking for, and can only remember the first two verses of a familiar song tie into Duo Maxwell's past? Read & Review. Story is almost over.
1. Where Ever The Stars Take Her

**Name: Sound**

**Gender: Female**

**Age: 15**

**Race: European-American**

**Height: 5"5**

**Description: Shoulder-length chestnut hair, blue eyes, slender. A disarming smile. A known drifter, doesn't stay in one place too long. Prefers downtown districts. Pilots a Gundam.**

**Gundam: Goes by the name of 'Bullet'. Appearance unknown. Speed-type; moves faster than the eye can see. Doesn't leave trail of light behind it as other known Gundams do. Never used in mortal combat. Only destroys machines after pilots have left the cockpit. Said to make a high-pitched whistling which vanishes seconds before targeted machinery explodes. No person harmed in any attack. Said to be fast enough to circle the world in 80 minutes.**

Heero glanced over the profile before passing it around to the other Gundam Pilots-turned-Preventors in the spartanly-furnished, grey room, watching them as they read for the mild entertainment of it. Trowa raised an eyebrow when he saw that the girl had no last name, Quatre frowned, Wufei passed it onto Duo, and Duo had the most entertaining response.

"Huh… Sound, huh… that's an interesting name… she's around our age…WHAT? No way! A gundam faster than the speed of sight?"

"It's 'speed of _light_', baka." Wufei said baldly, smacking the brunette, braided American on the back of the head as he passed by on his way to the coffee maker. "This one is going to be hard to catch, if she's as fast as they say."

"But do we really need to catch her?" Quatre said over Duo's quiet, dark mutterings as he massaged the back of his head, giving Wufei the evil eye. "She doesn't seem like a bad person."

"Whether she's a bad person or not doesn't matter in this mission." I said, and everyone's eyes generally came to rest on me-except for Wufei, who was adding cream to his coffee. "We were asked to find her and investigate about her gundam, and if she has one, confiscate it and destroy it. We have yet to see if she will be a threat or not."

"Her record's clean."

"Her Gundam is armed, Quatre." The mentioned blonde turned to look at Trowa as his friend spoke. "She is a threat until we find otherwise." Quatre frowned but said nothing. A moment of grim silence passed, and Duo decided to liven it up, jumping to his feet with a big, goofy grin.

"Well, this'll be fun! When do we leave?" I looked blandly at the over-excited idiot and was sorely tempted to roll my eyes.

"In an hour." The American's eyes widened in surprise and wheeled about, racing to the door. "Where do you think you're going?"

"To pack!" He yelped, and Trowa and Quatre rolled their eyes with amused smiles while I put a hand to my forehead while Wufei smirked.

"Just wait until he sees that Hilde's already packed everything for him."

* * *

Night had fallen over the city, and I had packed my bag once again. The stars were calling to me, and it made me restless, as clear starry nights like these always did, the full moon shining brilliantly in the deep, midnight blue sky I could stare at for years. I didn't have much to pack. I never really unpacked my bag anyways, and being a wanderer like I was, I tended not to carry too much with me anyways. I ran a hand through my newly-cropped, silky brown hair, which I had decided to have buzzed somewhat at the back, leaving it longer to hang in the front. It was low-maintenance this way, and I thought it made me look good. I glanced around, looking for anything I may have missed, and spotted a sock hanging off of the end of the dusty bed frame. I went to get it.

"Getting the fidgets again, Sound-chan?" I looked casually over my shoulder as I flapped the sock around, getting the dust off, before putting it with it's partner in my rucksack before zipping it up and turning. I nodded silently, smiling with my eyes. My old friend Mei, a sensuous, dark-haired woman sighed and turned to place her back against the doorframe, looking up and catching her long, black hair between her shoulders and the doorframe. "I should've known." She sighed, watching the little black spider as it scurried away along the top of the door frame. "You always fly away on nights like these." I smiled. She really knew me well.

"Thanks for putting me up last night, Mei." She flapped her hand at me and shook her head with a smile.

"How could I do anything else? You only come by so often. I'm just sorry that I only had the dirtiest room in the Inn left to put you up in." she said, wrinkling her nose at the sight of dust covering everything inside. I shrugged.

"It is in the attic." She sighed again.

"I suppose you're right. Where do you suppose you'll be going this time then?" I smiled, a mischievous twinkle in my eye.

"_Where ever the stars lead me."_ We said in sync, and I grinned my face off before moving forward to hug my friend, bag already slung over my shoulder, an embrace she returned warmly. I said the same thing every time, so all of my friends knew the phrase by heart. As quickly as the hug began, it ended, and we pushed away from each other, and I looked slightly down into her brown eyes and gave her a slight, crooked grin.

"Stay safe, Mei-kun." I said, my usual parting words. She smiled up at me, her eyes tired.

"Sayounara." I slipped past her and out the door, putting my hand up so that she could see the back of my hand waving to her as I slipped into the darkness. I never did like goodbyes. Mei leaned her shoulder against the doorframe and sighed, searching the hood of her hoodie for something before she pulled out the soft, miniature, knitted brown teddy bear I had dropped in it. It was quite cute, and she sighed again as she held it in her hand and looked at the place where I had disappeared. "When is she going to stop coming through here?"

* * *

In the back parking lot of Mei's family's Inn, I strapped myself into the cockpit of my car and quietly drove out of town until I was a safe distance out before speeding up and going off-road. I waited until I hit the woods, and I glanced at my rear-view mirror. Nothing but trees. I looked to the sides of me and in front. Nothing but lots and lot of evergreens. I grinned wildly, the white of my teeth unseen in the darkness as my moon-bathed hair stuck out in the night. I pulled the lever, and everything changed. The car shifted, rose up and twisted, giving way to a 12-foot, slender machine that stood up on two, well-shaped, red and gold-painted metal legs that led to a slim body which bore equally slim, well-shaped and well-built metal arms upon the shoulders of which sat a round head, with two eyes glowing white, set into the face of the machine where the eyes of a human would be. The red and gold machine stood still in the middle of a clearing, wind rippling through the clearing at the sudden stop like a grassy sea. It was human-esque in appearance, slim and beautiful, and inside, Sound was tapping away, smiling to herself, a half-suppressed, excited smile on her lips. Then she stopped, and grabbed a lever on either side of her, looking up at the image of the star-strewn sky shown on the screen above her head and grinned almost ferally, her eyes glowing with anticipation.

"C'mon Bullet. Lets do this!" The machine nodded and bent it's knees, preparing to jump. The next second, it was gone, the sound of wild, elated whooping dying into the night.


	2. Same As You

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N:** Please review.

* * *

"Maaaan, I am POOPED."

"No wonder. You didn't even try to sleep on the shuttle over here."

Heero led the way to their destination in the urban city as Duo and Wufei fell into another one of their usual bickering sessions behind him. Trowa strolled alongside the arguing couple, his arms folded over his chest as Quatre tried feebly to break them up. Heero looked up at the building in front of him, and crumpled the paper in his hand, stuffing it in his back jeans pocket. The names matched- Washing Inn- the place where Sound was last said to be. He climbed up the steps, leaving the others behind him, and rapped smartly on the door with the back of his knuckles. The arguing behind him quietened and he heard a scuffling coming from behind the door. Another moment and a middle-aged lady opened the door with a wide smile that faded partially at the sight of the uniform he wore. A look into his brown eyes, and she folded her arms under her bosom and kicked one foot up to balance on it's toes, crossing her ankles as she pressed her shoulder against the door frame.

"Something I can do for you officer?" She asked, unable to keep the soft note out of her voice for the youth of the boy in front of her. Heero responded by pulling a picture out of his jacket and handing it to the woman.

"We're looking for this girl. Do you know her?" Heero watched the woman as she flipped the picture and turned it, a flash of recognition shooting through her face.

"Ah, little Sound-chan…" She trailed off, her eyes distant, a smile tugging at her lips, a fond memory. "I remember the first time she turned up here. Even then, she was a flighty little thing." She trailed off again, still smiling fondly at the picture, and my shifting impatiently caught her attention. "Oh! Pardon me, I'm guessing this'll take a while. My name's Jane, come on in, and get your boys to follow too. We have room." She turned and waved for us to follow her, leaving the door open, mildly surprising me. The woman observed more than she let on, and I waved the others to follow me, disappearing through the door, following the woman, and Trowa shut the door.

"Yes, little Sound-chan." The coffee pot boiled and Jane- the mother of the family running the Inn- went and poured some for us. I waved it away politely with a small smile. She smiled back. "She turned up here when she was nearly ten years old, calling herself Sound Bullet. Tiny little thing, she turned up on our doorstep on a night like last night, and the old man nearly stepped on her when he went out to get the mail in the morning. Poor little girl fit into just one of his arms." She set some creamer and sugar on the table, Duo immediately going for the sugar and dumping heaps into his mug while Wufei went for the creamer and Jane leaned back against the counter, looking up at the ceiling with hazy eyes. "She was malnourished and had bruises on her ribcage, she never told us where she got them. She didn't wake up for a day and a half, the doctor said her ribs were broken and that he had removed a bullet in her ankle that nearly severed her hamstring."

Duo whistled, impressed, and Jane smiled crookedly before going on.

"It soon became apparent after she woke up that she didn't have a real name, for she admitted to making up her surname. Seemed like she had been rushed to come up with it, and it fell away pretty quickly once she didn't need it anymore. She insisted on being called Sound though. 'I don't want anyone making names for me', she said back then. 'I make up a name for myself, and other people will have to call me by it." Jane smiled fondly. I felt Trowa's interest in her words. "Child's logic, but she was very smart. Took an interest in tinkering." I had to suppress a smile as I felt Duo's interest perk up suddenly, like a pair of dog ears upon hearing the word 'walk'. "Our sink busted when I was doing the dishes when she was ten. She was there with a rag and duck tape and tools before I could even start fretting. She had said that she heard the pipe break. She ran to the scrap yard and came back with a u-bend before I even really knew what was going on. She made Scott- the old man- a miniature remote-controlled helicopter before she left for the first time, when she was 11- and it still hasn't broken."

"Mei told me before she went to school today that she left last night." I felt a pang of disappointment. I would've loved to meet her. Still, I reassured myself- we'd find her.

"Do you know where she went?" Heero asked, and Jane smiled.

"_Where ever the stars took her."_ I caught my breath in a light hiccup of surprise before letting it go. There was a mystical ring to those words. Heero looked at her quizzically. "No one knows where she goes, I wouldn't be surprised if she didn't know herself. That girl is in love with the sky, and that is the only thing she ever tells us when she gets fidgety like that."

"What do you know about her Gundam?"

"Gundam? She doesn't have one." I grew a little uneasy as I glanced at Heero. He was boring holes into the woman with his eyes, but I could see honesty in Jane's eyes, if a little alarmed.

"You said she tinkered. It's a possibility that she made herself a gundam."

"Where would she have gotten the gundanium?" No answer. "She made herself a car once, and that's as far as she's gone in terms of building things." She paused. "Unless she's been doing things without my knowing… but she would never hurt anyone." She said severely. "The one day she went to school with Mei and got bullied with her, she didn't even touch them. She just made them so dizzy they fell over and got sick on their own. I don't know about Mei, but… Sound never did anything to harm anyone." I sighed slightly and looked at Heero. He was slowly coming to the same conclusion as I had, and I smiled as he straightened up, and I followed suit, getting up.

"Thank you for your help, Mrs. Wash. Thanks for the coffee." Jane smiled half-heartedly, and watched as we filed out the way we came in, Wufei dragging Duo by the ear. Sound wasn't here.

* * *

We didn't find another trail for a week. Someone had reported seeing Sound in Yokohama, Japan, in a junk shop, buying spare parts. _Gundanium_ spare parts. Heero didn't show it, but I could tell he was feeling a tad smug, knowing he was right. Duo was one of the most eager to hunt her down, obviously impressed with that not only did she tinker around with things- like he did- but that she had built herself a gundam from scratch as well. We all found that impressive, but Duo did more so than the rest of us. Trowa was curious about her, and that was all that I could feel from him; a faint curiosity. Wufei was detached and just wanted to get the job done, and Heero thought of this as only a job as well, but liked the challenge finding Sound presented.

Our first glimpse of her was at the docks, brown hair cropped short at the back, differing from the picture of her in her file, slightly hunching over at the very edge of the dock as if she was holding something and rummaging around in it. It was Heero who caught her attention, but it was my eyes she held. Her eyes were blue, and I blinked, zoning out, or more like- my focus was entirely drawn to her and her curious gaze, so my awareness of my surroundings seemingly faded into black. I didn't say a word, yet I looked at her curiously, nearly losing myself several times in her blue eyes as she turned to face me, curiously dropping her hands to the side and studying me in the same way I was studying her. She blinked, looked into my eyes, found something, and smiled a soft, crooked grin, genuine in honesty and hesitation.

'_You're like me, aren't you?'_ I jumped, startled, and she smiled happily. Her lips didn't even move with the words. Her happiness glowed in her eyes. _'Oh you _are_ like me! You are!'_ She said again without saying anything, and I blinked, feeling a childish joy coming from her, and wondered, attempting to speak to her the way she was speaking to me, noticing the paper bag she held tightly in one hand.

'_Am I really something to get that excited about?'_

'_Yes.'_ I blinked again, conviction flowing from her thoughts and emotions as her excitedness suddenly died away, and I looked at her, waiting for an explanation. _'You are an empath, stranger's emotions are like an open book to you, and you feel your friend's emotions much more sharply and strongly. You've got room to improve as well. I'm… I don't know what I am exactly, but I've at least been telepathic for as long as I can remember, and I could know anybody's secrets.'_ Her words stunned me, and I looked at her with wide eyes, as she stood there, quietly smiling at me. _'Your friend-'_ She flashed a mental picture of Duo at me. _'-has an innate danger sense which levels on instinctual, which puts it in the same area as our gifts.'_ She paused in her thoughts, and became more somber, her smile slipping away, eyes dropping to the dock. _'You and your friend are more widely accepted, for you're not seen as strange, like I am. Your talents are useful and un-invasive. You're useful, and people don't see you as a threat.'_ I absent-mindedly brought a hand up to lightly touch my chest as I felt her heart sadden and sink, growing colder. She looked up sharply at people I couldn't see, and I felt her clamming up, as if to protect herself. _'You are a rare find, because rarely are people as open and kind as you, and that is what allows your talent to grow.'_ She turned, facing the water, and my eyes widened as I unconsciously reached out in alarm.

'_Where are you going?'_ She turned and gave me a cheeky smile over her shoulder, and I felt an intoxicating, bubbly feeling of excitement- the feeling of adventure- start to swell in my chest, and I dropped my hand lower, watching her.

'_No where and everywhere.'_ She said. _'Where ever the stars take me, but I won't be going far.'_ –and then she stepped over the side of the dock, and she was gone. I was at the edge of the dock before I realized what I was doing, looking down at the water, and there was barely a ripple to show that she had been there. I looked up into the sky, wondering at her, and just barely noticed the brief splash of water that could've been an unnatural wave. That girl certainly was a mystery.


	3. Old Scars

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N:** Review please! Some feedback would be much appreciated!

* * *

That was interesting. I thought as I strapped myself into Bullet and started her engines with a rumble. She was currently in submarine form as we were underwater, and I dropped her spare parts on the floor and pushed the bag under the seat and into the tool-box cache I had there for convenience and fast repairs, and it clicked shut with a satisfying sound. I pulled the lever to change Bullet back into her gundam form and pulled the booster lever to get us out of the water and into the air. I pulled the steering rig back and angled us up with one hand as she shot us out of the water and into the sky faster than the eye could see. Glancing at the side screen, I watched as the blonde boy's face flashed by, and I paused the view for a second to look at his expression. His name was Quatre. I knew that from looking into his mind when I spoke to him. His most important friend was Trowa, the tallest one of the lot who had all his hair in his face. He was one of the quiet ones. The other one who caught my eye was the eager brown-haired boy with the braid. Duo something-that-started-with-an-'M'. Maxwell? My first guesses were usually right, so I'd look him up under that name.

I set Bullet on autopilot and flicked the switch for the OAS- Obstacle Avoidance System- and let Bullet do her thing as I opened up the internet and took a screenshot of Quatre's face and a screenshot of Duo's and put them in the search base, running google and the defunct military's people finders at the same time. They both came up with results, the late military's resources being much more helpful and clear. Plus, the ex-military was especially careful to file everyone they came into contact with in the right places and stuff like that. They were kinda OCD about it. So searching through their info went without a hitch.

Quatre's face looked a little bit younger in the military snapshot, maybe more innocent. Definitely sadder. It was as if the picture had been taken just after he had lost someone important and was trying to put on a brave face. I frowned, a protective instinct arising in the center of my chest. He looked much better with a smile and without those sad eyes. I wanted to protect that smile, keep him laughing. I clicked over to Duo's file and choked on a surprised laugh. The guy was sticking his tongue out at the camera, pulling down an eyelid and crossing his eyes. That was an insult in some places. I guess the guy wasn't able to get a better picture of him. I smiled a little as I glanced over their files.

Quatre R. Winner. He came from a well-off family in the L4 cluster in space. Born and raised there. Even I had heard of the Winner name, but I wasn't too sure about what they did. Arabian in ethnicy. I smiled. Well that explained some of his sunshine-y cuteness. The ex-pilot of the gundam Sandrock.

Duo… Maxwell. I was right on his last name, like I usually was. He came from the L2. Ex-pilot of the gundam Deathscythe, called himself 'Shinigami', the 'god of death'. I frowned a bit, a headache building up behind my forehead, and I rubbed at it absent-mindedly with the butt of my hand. He was American, not much was known about his past. There were some rumors going around, associating him with the 'Maxwell Demon'. I clicked the hyperlink, and it led me to an article about the Maxwell church, which had been burned down some time ago. Hmm… Duo must've had something to do with it. After all, Maxwell was his last name… even if it felt a bit self-given, like mine. The headache was getting stronger, so I clicked out of that page, through Duo's profile and back to Quatre's, the headache slowly dieing down. I sighed in faint relief, and looked up their friends- the other ex-gundam pilots, and hit the button to monitor them before minimizing the window and taking Bullet off of autopilot, deciding to have some fun.

* * *

She. Was teasing us. I knew it, I just flippin' _knew_ it! That girl and her flippin' gundam built for speed had been coming close and flitting away like a mouse playing with a cat for _days._ It was frustrating to say the least, and it was made even more frustrating because it felt like I knew the girl.

I groaned and let my head rest against the steering wheel of the truck as we let it fuel up at one of the gas stations in town, my arms braced weirdly against the steering wheel so that my hands were splayed awkwardly over my head. I sighed and let my right hand fall to play with my braid. Even the way that girl irritated me was familiar. Ever since I had seen her face and that cheeky little grin at the docks, it felt like I knew her. It was like she vibrated like some memory I'd forgotten or something. Like some memory from way back when. I hadn't known any girls trying to be priests back at the Maxwell church, for all I knew, girls couldn't be priests and everyone had died in that fire anyways. Even with Solo-

Trio. I stiffened, eyes wide and staring blankly at the black rubber of the steering wheel. What the hell? Trio? I straightened up and stared blankly through the windshield. That girl had definitely died. There was no way that annoying brat had survived the virus. She'd cried about everything back then. Relied on the cute factor too heavily. She _was_ a cute little thing though. Never forgot about us, even though multiple young married couples had taken her home with them. She usually brought back about half the larder with her when she came back too. She was pretty much why we'd lived as long as we had, since we had been so careful with what she brought us.

But then, right about when Solo died… she disappeared. I had waited for her for two days and a night with the other two who'd escaped the virus with me, sitting by the old place. I'd assumed that either the virus had gotten her too, or she had just abandoned us. Gotten tired of being a street rat and went to live with one of those married couples. Hell knows, I would've done the same thing too.

She'd said she loved us.

I shook my head violently. No, no. I couldn't get caught up in that. We were street rats. That's what street rats did. We looked after ourselves first, others second. I'd left the place after the second night had fallen. Ran away from the place, the other two following me. I hadn't been crying. A street rat couldn't cry. Crying was weak. I clenched a fist. Why did I still feel that betrayal? Like it was fresh? I was 15 now, for god's sake. That had been a decade ago.

Maybe it was because they looked so alike. Trio and Sound. I silently turned and opened the door, slipping out of the truck. I slammed the door shut and waved at Heero when he glanced up at me, standing by the pump, then wandered off the pavement and onto the grass, scuffing my feet as I walked along. I slipped my hands into my pockets, looking at my feet, braid falling over my shoulder. Why'd it hurt so much? Why'd Trio just have to disappear like that? Right when I'd needed her? **Damnit.** I _wasn't_ going to cry. I _wasn't._ I walked off behind the gas station, wiping my face.

The cheeky little grin was the same.

* * *

I looked after Duo worriedly. That had been some pretty intense pain he'd been feeling. Made my chest feel like it was cramping. I fidgeted. Trowa and I'd been sitting in the back of the truck the whole time. I saw everything Duo did. Felt what he felt too. Felt like a watery version of heartburn. I frowned at my fingers, weaving them together.

"He'll be alright." I looked up to see Trowa looking at me, his one visible eye soft. "He just needs to walk off some steam. Wufei'll get him when its time to go." I nodded silently and looked in the direction that Duo had disappeared in. That was a pain that I hoped Duo never had to feel again. It had been painful enough for me to bear.

"Yeah." I murmured. "He'll be alright." Trowa ruffled my hair as he leaned back against the canvas and closed his eyes. He'll be fine.


	4. Solo, Duo, Trio

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N:** R&R

* * *

I noticed there was something wrong with Duo as I circled, did figure-of-eights and loop-de-loops over the station where they were to avoid making a hurricane, and stay nearby and invisible at the same time. He wasn't walking like he should. How I knew how he normally walked, I barely knew, but something tugged at my heart and told me to land as I watched him walk behind the gas station, wiping at his face. Something in my heart panged, like a cross between the prick of a dart and an elastic being snapped against bare skin. Something pulled me to him like a metal to magnet, told me to go to him, made me instinctively worry about him. I had to go to him.

"Bullet… easy now…" I was only half-aware of what I was saying as I pulled down to a deserted road nearby that went behind the gas station, turning eventually into dirt tracks. I didn't know what I was doing really, I wasn't thinking clearly. I was just acting on what I felt as I pulled the lever that would turn Bullet into a red car with gold trim. Something was telling me that going to him would tell me something I needed to know. Before I knew it, I was behind the gas station, un-strapping myself and stepping out of my gundam convertible. Then I was walking toward the brunette who had his head down and looking at his feet as he scuffed along the grass, unintentionally reaching out towards him. Then he looked up, his face tearstained.

It felt like a heart attack.

"Gah!" My eyes widened, and I fell to my knees my hand flying up to my chest as my heart gave a particularly painful wrench, my eyes never leaving his surprised face. It was over before it began. I became aware that I was shaking; trembling slightly, yet I couldn't tear my eyes away from the color of his violet eyes. So… familiar…

"You… you… I've seen you before…" Duo had been standing there with his mouth hanging open, but now he shut it with a half-bewildered, half-sympathetic look.

"Yeah… at the docks..." I barely heard his mutter, so preoccupied was I with the flashes I was getting of his face, a decade younger, with his hair long and loose. They were coming harder and faster, and it was all I could do to keep my focus on him.

"I… I know you…" I murmured, distantly aware that I was saying it aloud. The pounding sensation in my heart was coming back. He gave me a long, hard, searching look. Then he took a chance.

"Trio?" It was nothing more than a quiet word, yet it opened the gate to the floodwaters. My eyes widened to the size of saucers, my mouth went open, and I couldn't even hear my own gasp.

_I gave the tall, blonde 12-year-old with short-cropped hair and a black headband a small, nervous smile, playing with the ratty, pink, flower-patterned dress I wore. He smiled at me confidently and reassuringly, getting on one knee and putting his hand on my shoulder._

"_M'name's Solo." He said. "I look after kids like you, teach 'em how to live." I looked up into his blue eyes shyly, and gradually lifted my chin. He smiled, eyes closed, before turning around and pulling someone out from behind him by the scruff of his neck. The kid Solo had by the neck yelled in surprise and squirmed, but otherwise kept quiet as Solo pulled him in between us. I watched him with careful, wide eyes that screamed 'innocent' to any unknowing passersby who didn't know what they were looking at. The kid had red-brown hair that fell straight to his butt, and looked to be around my age. He wore a long, dirty, white shirt that fell past his knees and was tied like a tunic around his waist with a rope of the same material, shorts peeking out past the hem. He looked at me defiantly, crossing his arms and looking away. "This is Duo." Solo introduced the kid in a fond voice, smiling at him, and the kid relaxed. "He's been here for a couple days now. Duo," He said, turning to the boy he had loosely encircled in his arms. "-this girl is going to be staying with us from now on, ok?"_

"_Why do we have to have a __**girl**__ live with us, huh? Why couldn't she be another boy?" Solo laughed outright, ruffling Duo's hair, and the kid looked confused, yet happy that he made his mentor laugh._

"_Oh Duo," He chuckled, grinning. "-you have a lot to learn." I watched them interact, feeling kind of sad. I hadn't had anything like that for a long time, a cute little frown on my face, my eyes sad. Solo hugged Duo briefly and then surprised me by pulling me into the hug too. Duo giggled when he saw my wide eyes and partially open mouth. "So kid, what do you want to be called?" Solo asked, gently jiggling me a little, to let me know his was talking to me. I looked up into his blue eyes and thought. Then I looked down into Duo's violet ones, then back up into Solo's eyes again. I repeated the process, Duo looking at me curiously. Then I smiled widely, surprising Solo a little, since the expression was so different from the quiet, abandoned look I had had._

"_Trio!" I exclaimed happily, and the look in Solo's eyes softened while Duo looked irritated. "If you are Solo," I poked him in the chest. "-and you are Duo," I turned to smile at Duo. He was frowning at me. "-then I'll be Trio! Then we'll always be together, ne?" I giggled. "I love you guys!"_

Oh, I was so innocent back then. I thought, dully aware of being moved from side-to-side like I was in the back of a truck. Yet what I was lying on felt too strange to be a floor, and I could swear I felt arms wrapped around me. Bullet. I dropped my head to look blearily to where I felt the breeze coming from and saw my Gundam Convertible hitched up to the back of the truck. I smiled, closing my eyes. Yokatta…

I felt my head being moved gently back into the crook of someone's arms again, bringing my head level, and I opened my eyes to blearily see the worried face and violet eyes of the one I remembered. Finally, after ten years, I remembered. Duo. Now I could tell him what I had happened to me. I smiled blearily up at him, relieved to see him smile back at me, and passed out again.

* * *

It was her. Holy shit, it was _her!_ That was fucking impossible, but there she was in front of me, on her knees, looking completely overwhelmed, and ten years older. Holy shit, she grew up good. I blushed as I realized that my eyes had dropped to her chest at a time like this, of all times.

"D-Duo… and… and Solo…" The sound of the secret name I had kept so close to me for all these years slipping past her lips brought my attention sharply back to the present, and back to her as I felt my heartbeat quicken as I watched her face pale and her eyes dull. Omg, something bad! Something bad! That was the only thought that whirled through my head like blaring warning sirens as I watched her like a hawk, stepping up just as she started to topple forwards, dropping smoothly to my knees and catching her on my lap before she could hit the ground.

"TRIO!" That yell must've been instinctive, and I heard footsteps pounding around the corner a second later, and I all I could do was numbly wrap my arms around my old friend and try to make her more comfortable as Wufei pulled around the corner, gun out and on high alert. Heero shortly followed him, and I could hear Trowa and Quatre shout in the distance as I closed my eyes and rested my forehead on the top of the familiar, soft brown locks. My eyes twitched, and I felt a fat tear squeeze out, and I quickly wiped it away.

"_-then I'll be Trio! Then we'll always be together, ne?"_ What a sap. I smiled into her hair. 10-11 years ago, and I still remembered her words. Maybe even 12 years ago. It had been a damn long time. My arms tightened around her reflexively.

"Duo?" Heero sounded cautious, yet curious, and I sighed, looking up. Everyone needed to know. Wufei stood in front of me, his expression demanding a good explanation 'or else', Trowa was standing to his right, being Quatre's leaning post- who looked worried- and Heero stood on my right, gun by his side. I sighed, flexing my hands. I searched for the right words to say, looking into the sky to the right of Wufei, and spoke.

"This is my friend Trio. I thought she died ten years ago." Was that a gasp I heard from Quatre? Wouldn't surprise me. As it was, I could practically hear Heero frowning. "She went missing around the time Solo died, and I thought she'd succumbed to the virus too." I looked down at her frowning. "I don't know why she made up a new name, or why she'd have a Gundam. Unless she made it herself. Which would be confusing, because she was never into messing with stuff."

"Maybe she was trying to remember you." Quatre pushed himself away from Trowa, who watched him carefully, and kneeled down in front of me. I frowned at him, and he ignored it.

"You saying she has amnesia?"

"Had." He corrected, and my eyes widened. "Had." I pulled her closer to me instinctively. Trowa smiled.

"Why the hell would you say that?" She's the only thing I have left… from then. Quatre smiled dryly, and extended a hand out to touch her hair, and I watched it carefully as he lightly brushed some of her hair aside.

"People can get amnesia for different reasons…" The blonde said sadly, looking at her, and I shifted, Trio's head falling forward on my chest, hair falling into her face, and I spotted something I didn't want to see. Quatre fell silent, Trowa stiffened and Heero and Wufei watched. I stared. There was… a scar. On the back of her head. I reached up silently and pushed some of her hair aside, looking at the whole thing.

"So… that's why…" The scar went from the top left of the back of her skull, got a bit thicker in the middle, in the center of her head, and quickly tapered off. Quatre nodded grimly.

"That'd do it." He said, Trowa crouching down by us to get a closer look with narrowed eyes, one hand out towards her, but not touching her, his other hand draped over his knee.

"Looks like she was hit by something, hard." No shit, dumb ass. I thought and shook my head slightly. Trowa wasn't a dumb ass, just stating the obvious. He'd lost his memory once too. For pretty much the same reasons. "Looks like an old wound." He said frowning. "Reckon Mrs. Jane Wash knew about it?" Heero shook his head.

"She didn't mention it, so she and the doctor must not have seen it."

"Which means it would've been healed up by the time she turned up there." I frowned, not liking where this was going. Quatre frowned with me.

"Which means this 'Trio'," I shot Wufei a half-hearted glare and he smirked at me. "-lost her memories when she was nine or earlier." When she was nine? She disappeared when we were six. That would've given her three years before she lost her memory. Why didn't she come back?

"Then that would've given her three years before she lost her memory." Everyone fell silent and looked at me, my arms still wrapped around, and I pushed her head up onto my shoulder so that she wouldn't have a crick in her neck when she woke up. I lowered my eyes. "She disappeared when we were six." They took a moment to process that.

"Then that means she didn't just simply fall out of your life." I nodded, frowning.

"She wasn't the kind of person who'd leave us behind." Quatre smiled to himself. Wufei made a thinking sound.

"A lot can happen in three years." Heero.

"We'd have to wait until she wakes up. We can't know for sure otherwise." I said, reaching down and hooking a hand under her knees, pulling her fully onto my lap. I took a moment to re-orient her so that her head and shoulders were resting in my arm, and hooking my other arm under her knees, standing up. Then I noticed her car. It was a red and gold Chevy. My eyebrows shot up and let out a low, quiet whistle, careful not to disturb Trio in my arms. Everyone looked where I was looking. "She _made_ that? Sweet." The car was in perfect condition for something made out of scrap metals, and Trowa and Quatre grinned when they saw it. They knew where I was coming from. "We'll have to hitch it to the back of the truck. She never liked people touching her stuff without asking first." Heero nodded and turned back towards the truck as I turned carefully, watching Trio's face as I did so, not even trying to hide my worry. Still, if Trowa got through it…

Passing by, Trowa gave my shoulder a reassuring squeeze, and I looked up as I saw him walk towards the truck, Quatre standing by my side and waiting patiently. I looked back down at her face, her eyes half-closed, a troubled frown creasing her forehead. If she made it through the virus, and through whatever erased her memory, she could make it through this. I took a deep breath and let it out in a gentle sigh as I heard the guys pulling the truck over, and turning it around and backing it up once the car was in sight. Wufei jumped out and jacked the car up, attaching it to the truck so that the car's rear end was up in the air. I looked up and climbed carefully into the back of the truck, situating Trio on my lap. At least I had her now.


	5. Talking To The Moon

**A/N:** Review for an update.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create. The song is 'Talking to the Moon' by Bruno Mars. Someone should make a Gundam Wing amv with that song. ^_^

* * *

"_I know you're somewhere out there,_

_Somewhere far away,_

_I want you back,_

_I want you back,_

_My neighbors think I'm crazy,_

_But they don't understand,_

_You're all I had…_

_You're all I had…"_

_I sat in a cell, on my knees, hands in my lap, singing to the moon that I could see through the high window in my cell, which in turn could only be seen through one of the specially-made transparent walls of the colony, since normal glass wasn't good enough to keep the oxygen inside, and whatever made up space outside. Those were the only verses of the song I knew, since Solo used to sing the song to Duo and me to make us go to sleep, and I usually fell asleep after the second verse._

"_That's a nice song." I jumped, tense, looking into the shadows beyond the bars behind me with wide, fearful eyes, clamping my mouth shut. "Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scare you." The voice said, and a girl in uniform stepped out of the shadows, and squatted in front of the bars, smiling at me. She was young, maybe about Solo's age, and she brushed her black hair out of her face. "I just heard you singing, and I couldn't resist coming in to listen. My name is Noin. What's yours?" She extended her hand through the bars for a shake, and I looked at it warily, turning around and fearfully pushing myself into the shadows, giving her a small nod in response before curling up against the wall, hugging my knees to my chest. She may act nice, but I didn't trust her. Everyone around here was out to get me, they put me in a cell. When I got out of here and got back to Solo and Duo, I wasn't ever going to tag along with strangers ever again. I was going to stay with them forever. Noin frowned and withdrew her hand._

"_What are you doing in here anyways?" No answer. Her frown deepened. "What's your name?"_

"…"

"_Hmmm…" She hummed, looking at me, squinting a bit to see me under the cover of the shadows. "You were a street rat, weren't you?" I nodded, and Noin gave me a little, encouraging smile. "Were you all on your own?" I shook my head, and a frown of confusion flashed across her face before she put that reassuring look back on. "You had friends?" Nod. "How many did you have?" I put up two fingers. She smiled at me, a true smile, and I blinked, the tension in my throat loosening. "Did you learn that song from them?" I nodded. "That's sweet. Were they other girls?" I hid my smile in my legs. Solo and Duo would be offended to know that they were called girls. I shook my head. "Boys?" She sounded surprised. I nodded. "Huh… that's something. I guess I can understand that." There was a moment of silence, and I watched her as she thought, her eyes cast to the ground. When she looked back up, I met her eyes. She blinked. "Was one of them your age, and the other my age and blonde?" My eyes widened, and I watched her as she put a fist to her forehead and scrunched her face up in thought. "Now what was his name? He stood in front of the younger protectively when he saw me, and he looked kind of sick… what was his name… Oh!" She snapped her fingers. "Solo!" I pushed myself off of the wall and crawled across the floor to the cell bars so fast my face was in hers in seconds, looking into her eyes intently. She yelped silently and fell back onto her butt in surprise, looking kind of shaken. I was right there when she looked up. A moment of silence passed where I stared into her eyes, searching in them for the truth, and she was staring at me, shaking a little with the surprise. "S-so that's the one, huh? They're the ones." She corrected, and she sat up, cross-legged and looked me in the eyes honestly. I sat back on my heels. She was telling the truth, and I nodded openly, sitting right in front of her._

"_Solo is my big brother. He looks after me and Duo. Duo's the younger one with the hair." I said quietly, and Noin leaned forward, enthusiastic, now that I was speaking. She looked at me with wide, eager eyes. She looked really interested. I looked up at her, still feeling a bit nervous about telling her about this, but deciding to go on anyways. "We're not actually related." Noin made an 'oh' face, and I couldn't help but feel a little warmer towards her. I gave her a small, nervous smile. She beamed at me._

"_My name is Lucretia." I gave her a puzzled frown. She'd introduced herself as 'Noin' earlier. Why the change? "I ask my superiors and the other kids I work with to call me Noin so that the gender gap doesn't make things difficult." I looked at her in confusion, and she grinned at me. "I guess you wouldn't understand stuff like that right now." She said, and I gave her one of those looks that said: "Uh-huh-you're-interesting-and-I-kinda-like-you-but-what-you're-saying-makes-absolutely-no-sense'. What was a 'gender gap' anyways? "I don't mind if you call me Lu though!" She said happily, smiling. Oh. It was a prompt to get me to tell her my name._

"_I'm Trio. I'm six and a half." I said shyly, looking down, and I could've sworn I saw hearts in her eyes out of the corner of my vision. I smirked inside. My 'cute' trick was working._

"_I'm 13." I blinked. That was twice my age, wasn't it? Maybe she could get me out of here, and I looked up at her with honest eyes._

* * *

Oh, my head… I groaned and lifted my head up a little bit, slipping my hand under it. So that was the song I never forgot. The one I'd made my new name up after. I wondered how I knew it. I had met Noin when I was closer to seven than six years old, and we had established a quick- if temporary- friendship. I wasn't let out of that cell for a week- for some ridiculous reason like quarantine- but Noin had persuaded her superiors to let me out to take walks with her. It was on one of those walks that I discovered mobile dolls, and was intrigued. It had reminded me of something Duo'd have loved.

I had asked Noin- who I had called Lu at the time- to try and find Solo and Duo for me, since they wouldn't let me out, and I was watched like an eagle at all times- I couldn't even stick food down my shirt without someone knowing about it- but my friends were never found. I never stopped asking about them though, and eventually, they just started playing deaf whenever I asked. I had worked with the mobile suits for about a year- the engineers _loved_ me, since I was both good at what they taught me, and small enough to be able to get into places they couldn't- but then everything changed. I had been on a truck, checking things over on the suit in it, a soldier standing guard nearby- when the truck suddenly started moving and people started yelling. I had hunkered down near the end of the truck, pulling the tarp over me and holding it there on instinct and for security so that I wouldn't fall off.

The driver had managed to evade the worst of the bullets- which I had hidden from by sneaking under the mobile doll's leg, which was bulletproof to normal guns- but then the truck went over a bump, and I went flying. I had landed on someone, and adrenaline had me up and running for dear life in seconds, not knowing where the hell I was going. Things got a bit worse after that, and I frowned at the ceiling, my hand relaxing under my head. I wasn't too clear on that yet, my mind was still a little foggy as to what had happened then, but then something squeezed my hand. I jumped, looking down, suddenly realizing I was on a bed.

Duo. I could've sworn I felt my heart skip a beat, and I felt a faint blush rise to my cheeks when I realized that he was holding my hand- that he had squeezed it in his sleep. I smiled. He was sleeping in the most awkward position I had ever seen. He was face-planting into the bed I was lying in, his braid messy and falling down his spine, his butt supported by the chair he was sitting in, his other hand dangling down with his loosely curled fingers barely grazing the floor, just hanging there. I bit back a laugh. Poor guy. His back was going to ache for sure when he woke up.

I rolled over onto my side, watching him, never letting go of his hand- hopefully keeping him from waking up- and I pulled myself into a sitting position. Now I was sitting cross-legged right in front of him, and I tentatively reached out, nudging his braid to the side. It was a nice change from his hair just hanging loose all the time, though it was still as long as I remembered- and I lightly, carefully placed my hand on his back. I blushed a little and fought it away. His muscles were well-built now, but I wasn't touching him to feel him up -I murdered the thought before it acted up-, I was hoping that I could rub his back and help take some of the inevitable ache away.

I ran my hand lightly down his spine, applying only the lightest of pressures and brought it back up. I glanced towards his face. I could see him breathing, but he wasn't waking up. I let out a small puff of breath in relief. I repeated the process, leaning a little further, and resting the weight of my hand on his back. Glance. Still asleep. Leaned a little further and applied a little more pressure. Glance. He had turned his head on its side now, so he was looking toward the pillow, but he was still asleep. Lean, applying a little more pressure. He woke up.

Bonk.

I lurched upwards, and winced at the force of the impact, Duo's braid whapping me in the face when his upward ascent was suddenly stopped by the back of his head meeting my chest. I felt all the air whoosh out of me and I struggled to breathe in, Duo yelling in surprise. Oh great. He knocked the wind out of me. Once Duo realized that something had stopped him from sitting up, he carefully reached up and put his hands on my ribs, pushed me up, ducked out from under me and looked me in the face. He moved his hands to my shoulders, and I smiled at his bewildered, yet happy face. He didn't seem to understand what just happened, yet was happy to see I was awake.

"Trio." I smiled weakly, my hands covering my chest as I waited for my breath to come back. He sounded happy. He frowned at me, looking to see where my hands were, since it looked like I was hurt. I twitched a smile. How sweet. "You ok?" He looked up at me, a frown in his violet eyes. Sheesh, I could get flashbacks just from looking in his eyes. Being so close to him wasn't helping anything either. I nodded, and he quirked an eyebrow. Clear message. 'You don't look ok.' I twitched a smile at him, trying to breathe.

"It's ok." I mouthed, and he dropped his eyes to my lips. "You hit my chest when you sat up. You knocked the wind out of me." He frowned, looking a little lost. 'I hit…?' he mouthed to himself, raising a confused hand to the back of his head, puzzled over it for a moment, then froze. His face went red, and I grinned my face off. My god, it was fantastic! He hadn't changed much! I would've laughed if I had any air in me.

"Sorry." He muttered, trying to hide his blush behind his bangs. I shook my head, grinning, and knowing he couldn't see it, playfully hit him on the shoulder. He looked up curiously, the last traces of pink leaving his face, and saw me grinning. He smiled in return, taking my breath away- well, I stopped trying for a second- it lighting up his entire face, and he pushed himself back to lean against the back of the chair. I don't think I'd ever seen him smile quite like that before. "Glad to know you're good, girl." I smiled.

"If you're quite done flirting-" We simultaneously jerked our heads around towards the door to see Chang Wufei standing just inside the door, lazily leaning against the wall with his ankles crossed, and studying his nails. He glanced up at us with an almost dis-interested look. "-would you mind telling us what's going on?" I glanced behind him automatically and saw Quatre smiling at us in amusement, Trowa watching us to see what was going to happen, and Heero Yuy looking bored at the back of the lot. Back to more important things. I half-raised myself onto my knees and Duo and I shouted together.

"We aren't flirting!" Well, Duo was the one who actually yelled it, since I couldn't say anything at the moment, but I certainly gave it my best shot. Trowa raised an eyebrow, Quatre frowned, and Wufei raised both eyebrows. He gestured to me, looking at Duo.

"Why isn't she saying anything?

"Knocked the wind out of her." Wufei quirked an eyebrow up. Almost as if Duo's explanation was a cue, my chest suddenly heaved with a huge, dramatic gasp and I braced myself against the mattress with one hand as I almost went limp at the sudden relief. I chuckled as soon as could, grinning and sitting back upright.

"Well, that was dramatic, wasn't it?" I grinned; looking at Duo, and an identical grin split his face in half. "Well, anyways…" Duo titled his head to the side curiously at me. "-It's been for-freakin'-ever Duo! I'm glad ya still alive!" I said raising my hand for the shake we used to do. He grinned and we slapped, slid, gripped, spun each other's hands out and respected. "What's been happening, dude? You're not a pipsqueak anymore, nice idea with the braid by the way. You can slap people with it." I heard a choke, and looked to see Quatre crack up the same time Duo did, and I grinned when I saw Wufei's 'wtf-just-happened?' look. Heero looked faintly amused, and Trowa was smiling. I grinned and looked back at Duo, feeling very happy that I'd made everyone laugh or something similar to it. Duo was shaking his head and laughing, tilting his face slightly towards the floor. Gods, he looked beautiful when he laughed. I blinked and brought myself back to the present.

"My god, you certainly haven't changed, have ya girl?" He laughed, and eventually he turned to look at me, the fading smile still on his face. "It's nice to see that you're still alive too, Trio." I smiled at him and he leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees, finally looking serious. "You remember the war, right?" He asked, glancing at me. I nodded, keeping my eyes on him. Of course. He looked away. "I piloted the gundam Deathscythe." I smiled privately. I thought he would. "I met up with these guys then" he said, gesturing to the guys by the door. "-and we've banded together since. We're now a part of the Preventors." I smiled. That was very noble. Ex-gundam pilots joining a cause to help prevent wars from happening again. He looked at me, and I couldn't identify the look in his eyes. It almost looked like a mixture of curiosity and sadness. I blinked. "What about you?" It almost sounded like a statement. I looked at him for a moment, wondering what to say. I looked down. Best to be blunt, and start from the beginning.

"Well…" I said, looking at my lap. I looked up slightly when I saw his knees turn to face me. "You know how I was back then." In the street rat days. "Always going home with any happy, young married couple who looked like they wanted a kid and coming back to you guys with half their larders…" I paused for so long, Duo reached out to touch my knee in concern. I glanced up at him, shot him a half-smile and spoke to his knees. "Well, it seems like I chose the wrong couple to go home with." Duo's fingers tensed on my knee. I took a breath. "I ended up in an Alliance cell. They didn't let me out for a week, but then this girl called Lu-something Noin found me and took a liking to me." Duo's hand went slack, and I looked up to see him wearing a surprised look. "I take it you know her?"

"Hell yeah. We work with her." I smiled. That's good.

"Well, she ended up taking me for walks around the place, and that was where I found mobile dolls." I dropped my eyes to his shoulder. "I took an almost rabid interest in them, because it seemed like something you would've liked." Quatre made an 'Aw-that's-cute' face I didn't see, and Duo blushed slightly. "I wanted to get out- get back to you guys- but I was being watched like a hawk. I couldn't do anything without it been seen. If I went to the toilet, they knew, if I stuck food down my shirt, they knew, if I talked in my sleep, they knew. I was stuck there for a year, and I never stopped asking Noin to find you guys. 'Cause hell, if I couldn't get out, I wanted at least find out if you guys were alive." Duo's face dropped slightly, but he kept quiet. "Then one day, I was working under one of the tarps on one of the trucks, doing some last check-ups on the suit- the engineers taught me everything they knew, they loved me- and the truck started to move. Who ever was driving it was pretty good, but kinda reckless. I nearly fell out a few times, but he avoided most of the bullets. I ended up getting thrown out of the back near a burning building, and I landed on someone, but I got up and ran before I knew exactly what was happening." I looked up and saw Duo staring at me in surprise with wide eyes and an open mouth. I tilted my head curiously to the side.

"It didn't have a Leo prototype in the back, did it?" I nodded.

"Yeah, did quite a bit of work on it." Duo gaped at me, and I looked at him curiously, putting my hand on top of his to try and prompt him. He blinked.

"I can't believe I hijacked you."

"What?" I looked at him in surprise. "_You_ were driving that truck?" He nodded.

"Yeah, drove it to the Maxwell church." We gaped at each other like fishes out of water. I thought I heard a chuckle coming from somewhere.

"I can't believe it…" I trailed off. "-if only I hadn't been thrown off…"

"We would've found each other so much sooner." Duo finished. He looked at me in amazement, and I suddenly realized we were holding each other's hands like we were confessing our undying love for each other. I looked down and blushed, and Duo followed my gaze and did the same. We took our hands away and pretended it hadn't happened. Quatre was definitely laughing behind his hand, and I shot him a mock glare, softening it with a smile. He winked at me, and I grinned incredulously at him. What? A moment of awkward silence passed, and I thought, frowning.

"After that… I went running wily-nilly… and…" I brought the heel of my palm up to my forehead and ground it in, screwing my eyes shut. "God… this is hard to remember…" I sighed, frustrated, and I felt Duo's fingers touching my knee again, unwilling to fully place his hand on my knee again, yet wanting to let me know he was there. I smiled a bit for him. "Why can't I…?" I froze, a burning, circular pain pressing itself into the back of my right shoulder, and I stiffened, gritting my teeth against the pain, hearing Quatre hiss in pain and surprise. Oh shit, Quatre. Quatre could feel this too.

"Trio?" I heard Duo glance at Quatre as he spoke, but then I felt him put his hands on my shoulders, trying to hold me up, and I leaned into his grip, unwilling to make a sound, but needing him there. He moved, and I felt the bed sink down next to me, and Duo wrapped his arm around my shoulders. I was getting those flashes again, this time, of something quite a bit more unpleasant. I felt tears starting to prick at my eyes, and I twisted and leaned heavily into Duo's side, grinding my teeth together. "Trio?" He definitely sounded a little bit scared now. He didn't know what was happening to me. He had every right to be. My pain was also affecting Quatre. "What's wrong?" I was facing the wall now, so Duo and I were facing opposite directions, and amidst my pain, I didn't think twice about moving my hand to my right shoulder, and lying down across Duo's lap.

"Duo." I hissed. "Pull down my shirt."

"What?" He squeaked in surprise, tensing at the odd request.

"Pull. Down. My shirt. The back of my right shoulder. Now." I felt him relax and then reach over me, since I was lying on my side across his lap, facing him, and he slipped a hand under my ribcage gently and carefully lifted me up, freeing my right shoulder. I heard footsteps walking to stand in front of the bed and behind me, when Duo slipped my shirt off my right shoulder. There were gasps. Tears were running freely down my face now, half from the burning in my shoulder, and half from the memories. So it really was there. "I'm sorry." I choked out. "I'm sorry." I curled myself around my dearest old friend and passed out.

* * *

Ho-ly _Hell._ No wonder she had wrapped around me like a cat, not wanting me to leave. That'd be painful for anyone to remember. I stared down at the old burn scar the branding iron had left on the back of her right shoulder, eyes vacant, arms wrapped loosely around her. 'KOS' in a small circle. So that's what happened in those last two years. KOS. Killers Of Soldiers. I held Trio closer. They had been one of the first, deteriorating, pro-war groups we had busted up soon after joining Preventers. That group was sick.

Heero stepped back, a thoughtful frown on his face, and Quatre kneeled by the bed lightly tracing the scar on her shoulder, his expression one of half sadness, half dead anger. I looked at him, his eyes hidden by his bangs, and I saw his hand trembling. I blinked at him.

"You felt it, didn't you?" He nodded shortly, not even looking up at me as he responded.

"She was so afraid…" I frowned as Quatre trailed off. "-she was terrified when she got that mark."

"I wouldn't be surprised." I murmured darkly, twisting a little awkwardly to see that Trio's face was still contorted with pain, and she trembled slightly in my lap, one of her arms reaching over my side to touch one of her knees that was curled up behind me. She really didn't want to let me go- and for that matter- I wouldn't let her go either. She hadn't abandoned me at all. Unfortunate circumstances separated us, and different paths in life kept us apart. It wasn't until she had taken the name of Sound and started busting up empty mobile suits that we had been sent out to find her, thrusting her into my life again. I wouldn't let her slip away a second time. I rubbed the spot between her shoulders where Solo used to rub to calm her down, and she went limp in my lap. I smiled as Quatre blinked in confusion. The little old trick still worked.


	6. Killers Of Soldiers

**A/N:** Review for an update, even though there only seems to be one of you...

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**WARNING:** Dark.

* * *

"_Lemme go!" I screamed, struggling against the grips of the two stronger, older men as they pulled me by the wrists towards a set of shackles hanging from the ceiling. "Lemme go, lemme go, LET ME GO!" A seven-and-a-half year old's strength wasn't nearly enough against the two men who held my wrists so tightly they cut off the blood circulation. If I had been stronger, I might've been able to give them a bit more of a run for their money, but as it was, they had me lifted up into the air with those shackles closed around my wrists in no time, putting the chains in my hands. "__**LET. ME. GOOOO!**__" My voice was turning hoarse from the screaming when they dropped to their knees and grabbed my wildly kicking feet and holding me still as best as they could. Then the branding iron came. "__**NOOOOO!**__"_

_I stood listlessly amongst the crowd of lifeless kids around my age, my wrists shackled together, a gun in my hands, dark, dirty, stringy hair in my face with a pulley system that went up to the 3-storey-high ceiling above, my shackles chained to it on the other end. Somewhere behind me and to my right, in another section, a kid started screaming bloody murder when I heard his gun clatter to the floor, the static shocks starting, undoubtedly making his hair stand on end until he begged for the gun to be put back in his hands. I was nine years old now. Didn't give a damn about the half, and I closed my eyes when I heard him scream, not even bothering to turn around. I knew what it looked like._

"_3 –2 – FIRE!" The pulley systems pulled our wrists up to right degree angles from ourselves, and reflexively, we gripped our guns and shot the captured soldiers bound to the poles, barely looking at our targets as blood splattered everywhere. We had done this too many times, and I would've sighed if I wasn't so tired as a girl to my left and a section back started screaming, along with a few other new kids back there who had refused to shoot. This happened more than dropping the gun did. Too many kids still remembered what it was like to be Outside, still had strong hearts and senses of justice. Others like me, who had been here for awhile, were broken or had given up resisting. We'd become numb to everything, tired of everything, and just didn't want any more pain. At least once every three weeks to a month or two longer, a kid shot himself just for that reason. Didn't want to deal with it anymore. _

_I held the gun loosely between my hands as I looked at the floor dully as the adults- mostly those who had grown through this without shooting themselves, and some faculty- walked among us, trading our spent guns for new ones as they removed the dead bodies. This was were the executions were held- what they called 'training'. I limply let the gun in my hands be taken, and limply held onto the new one the person gave me. I only had one reason I didn't shoot myself._

_I could remember a face, a boy, and happier times. I could remember his face-splitting smile and eyes shining when he laughed. I remembered that his name was Duo. He was a strong boy. He never gave up. I remembered his long, red-brown hair that went down to his butt, his dirty white shirt-tunic and little army green shorts. My wrists were pulled up again and I shot. The gun was removed and replaced. I remembered him calling me 'Trio', and if that was what he called me, then that would be my name. Not 4600. I didn't like numbers. Trio was a nice number, a nice word. It meant three, like three people. Three people was a small family. Three people was a warm place to be. I wanted to find that boy whose name meant two. I wanted to find that bright smile that was meant for sharing between one person and another. If I ever got out of here, I would find that bright boy with the happy smile whose name meant two. I remembered him. I would find him._

_My chain fell with a mighty clang, and I blinked in surprise. What happened? I kept my head down and I listened. There was a tremendous amount of yelling going on by the entrance to this place, and a lot of scuffling. The entrance to this place was behind me, and I looked up. There was no one in front of me but the people tied to the posts that we had just shot, and the man with the keys running by. I pulled my wrists up and shot. The man fell. I was by his side, taking his keys. I found the key that was used for everyone's shackles- one of many keys- and I unlocked my shackles, the heavy metal cuffs falling to the floor with a metallic thud. I took the key off of the ring, spotting the one that opened the space pods that could shoot me toward earth- and ran to the kid who had stood next to me, slapped him into focusing, showed him the key, stuck it in his cuffs and turned and ran away._

_I ran through hallways, dodging and sneaking and knocking out guards, running to the space pods in my dirty, light-blue, pillow case dress, long, dirty hair streaming out behind me. I opened the space pod door and left the gun on the floor outside. Climbed in, shut the door, vacuum-sealed it off, and started the air. I pushed the buttons that detached the pod, let it drift away, set the co-ordinates and hit the boosters, falling against the door from the force of the flames that shot me away from the only colony I'd ever known. I turned over, lay on my back on the soft, cushy floor, and stared at the roof as I opened my mouth and began to sing._

"_I know you're somewhere out there,_

_Somewhere far away,_

_I want you back…_

_I want you back…._

_My neighbors think I'm crazy,_

_But they don't understand,_

_You're all I had…_

_You're all I had…" I would find that brown-haired boy with the bright smile whose hair came down to his butt. I would find that strong boy called Duo, whose name meant two. I had been waiting for this opportunity for two years. Hell take me if I wasted it._

* * *

Her breathing was calming down. Instinct told me she'd wake up soon, and I rubbed her arm absent-mindedly, thinking about her, Quatre sitting in the chair I had abandoned before shifting to the bed and being held there. Heero was leaning on the wall by the door, legs and arms crossed, watching me and Trio. I hadn't moved her since she pinned me and passed out, though I used her side as an armrest. Wufei and Trowa had left to do whatever it was that they did, and the room was silent.

We all knew what the KOS was. We had infiltrated them to destroy them from the inside out last year, though there wasn't much left of it except for a few pro-war crazies left over from when they were still in business. We could have just gone and blown them up- dealing with them the easy way, but Une had put information about them on top priority. To prevent the same things from happening again in the future. So over the course of three days, we had infiltrated them and learned everything we could about them. KOS was a battle station designed for deprogramming children and turning them into child soldiers. In their heyday, they had over 2,000 children in just that station, an estimated half of which had committed suicide by shooting themselves, or had died thoughtlessly in the war zone. We had found what we had been told had been the training room by old enthusiast, who had been there from the beginning. Heero had been the one to get most of the information out of him. The room had been divided into multiple sections, was three stories high and had rusty chains hanging from the ceiling, electrical wires running through the links, which had been used to 'correct' disobedient children. Some had even died by those methods.

I glared at the wall opposite me as Quatre glanced sadly at Trio's burn scar again, making a fist and hiding it between Trio's body and mine. I had infiltrated the system secretly, as a spy, and I had found a series of five foot by five-foot rooms, each seven feet tall, each one exactly the same. A pair of shackles hanging from the ceiling and an iron chair, bolted to the ground. Only a few had lacked the feature of the branding irons. I gave the wall the evil eye. If I had known that they had had Trio in their grasp at the time, I would've done so much worse than simply blowing up their station after we had gathered all the information we had and left. I squeezed my fist tighter and then relaxed, looking down at Trio's face sadly. That was in the past though. There wasn't much more that she could tell us. The mark on her shoulder explained everything. She had been trained to be a child soldier. Though I doubted that they managed to break her will too easily. Trio was clever, she could be a very good actress when she wanted to be, and could trick people into thinking what she wanted them to think.

She jerked awake, stiffening. I leaned back and looked at her face. Her eyes were open, and met mine, so I smiled at her, gently squeezing her reassuringly. I'm still here. I glanced up at Quatre, and he smiled at me, knowing she was awake, and I glanced over at Heero, who stared at me. No answers from either. My best guess would be that they would grill her if she was feeling up to it. She sat up suddenly and wrapped her arms around my neck, and I stiffened in surprise. What? Oh. She was re-adjusting herself already, yet she still didn't let go, burying her face in my hair. This was a hug. I smiled over her shoulder with an amused look. She was so cute sometimes. Even at 15, she still had the cute thing down pat. I slowly wrapped my arms around her, and she sighed quietly. I closed my eyes, smiling in amusement. She probably didn't even know she did that.

"Thank you." She whispered in my ear. I frowned and turned my head slightly into hers. Her voice sounded a little shaky. "For not leaving." The smile was automatic, yet of habit.

"Course. Just got you back." I wouldn't let you go so soon. She gave a shaky, small laugh.

"You know…" she whispered, and putting her hands on my shoulders, pushed herself away from me and onto the bed beside me. I angled myself to face her. "-I never stopped wanting to find you." I blinked, somewhat awed. Never? Never at all? Surely she'd have forgotten me at some point. Well, apart from the amnesia of course. She let out a short sigh and looked down. "I was caught running away after getting towed out of the Alliance on that truck, and for two years, I was trained to be a soldier, from when I was seven, to nine. It…" She trailed off, looking for words, and I frowned at her worriedly. This couldn't be very easy for her to remember. "-was horrible." She admitted. "Many other kids killed themselves- shot themselves under the chin, usually- but… I always remembered your face, and how strong you always were." Crap. I could feel a blush coming on. "You never let anything get you down- for long, anyways- and that was something I admired about you." My face was dusted pink now. "So… I remembered that, promised myself I'd find you, and tried to be a person you could be proud of." I was looking at the wall now- thankfully Trio wasn't looking at my face- for now I was completely pink. She let out a short laugh and rested her forehead on my shoulder, smiling wryly, her hair falling into her face. "Sappy, huh?" Silently, I lifted a hand and rested it on her head, careful not to dislodge her head from my shoulder. Nothing more needed to be said.


	7. Gundam Mischief

**Disclaimer: **I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N:** Decided to give you a 20th birthday update. You only turn the same age as your birthday once in your life.

* * *

"Show us your Gundam."

"Wha?" Trio looked up from her lunch, Subway sandwich still clutched tightly between both of her hands, and she pouted at Duo as he stole one of her pickles. He grinned cheekily and chowed down. "Haven't you already seen it?" Heero quirked an eyebrow at the question, which had caught everyone else's attention too. Trio saw that and frowned. "But you…" She paused, thought, and realization dawned on her face. "Ooooh… you didn't know what it was, huh?" Heero frowned at her as she chowed down on her sandwich, eating faster, and Duo quirked a skeptic eyebrow at her.

"I think ex-_Gundam_ pilots would know what a Gundam looks like." She shoved the last of the sandwich in her mouth, stood up, chewed, shook her head and swallowed with a bit of a grimace, rubbing her throat.

"Not mine." She said leaving the table, piquing everyone's interest, Duo standing up and following, leading the way behind her. "I didn't want people to catch onto what I was doing, so I got inventive and made Bullet easier to hide." She said, leading us outside and turning around and standing in front of her red and gold Chevy, arms out as if we were students and she was the teacher. "Luckily, both the gundanium and gunduriam alloys worked well with what I wanted to do, so it worked out perfectly. Now," she smiled impishly, dropping her arms, eyes shining. "-can you see my gundam anywhere?" I shook my head in a simple 'no', Trowa and Wufei folded their arms and waited, Heero did nothing but wait and watch, and Duo snorted, rolled his eyes and said 'Of course not.' She smirked, went to the driver's side door, opened it and climbed in. "You will in a sec!" She called, and we all frowned at her in confusion. What? She slammed the door shut, and for a moment, nothing happened, the headlights flickering on.

...

My jaw dropped. Duo jumped back about three feet with a yell of surprise, landing neatly on his ass while doing so, Heero's eyebrows kissed his hairline, and Trowa's and Wufei's eyes widened as we all looked up as the car shifted, changed shape and grew taller into a slender, red-and-gold human-esque Gundam. It turned it's head to look at us with two glowing white eyes and seemed to smile without anything changing at all. I heard the hiss of the Gundam's hatch opening, and what seemed to be two chest plates moved forward, away from the main body like a lady bug's wings. I snapped my mouth shut in mild, stunned surprise as Trio's hysterical laughter echoed through the area, and she slipped out of the opening at the bottom of her Gundam, landing on her feet but stumbling and falling to her butt on her Gundam's foot, leaning against the Gundam's leg as she clutched her sides, face turning red from laughter. We watched her in stunned silence.

"Oh my god…" She practically wheezed out through her laughter. "_Duo! _Ya shoulda seen!" She gasped. Apparently her accent got thicker when she laughed and spoke at the same time. "Ya nearly _pissed_ yaself!" I looked around in curiosity, since Trio had pointed it out. Duo was sitting on his ass, leaning back on his hands, wide eyes quickly losing their half-surprised, half-frightened look due to Trio's teasing to be replaced by half-irritation, half-awe. He spluttered, and I grinned, noticing Heero smirking at the guy in amusement out of the corner of my eye.

"Well! Well!" Duo gave it up and simply rolled up onto his feet and charged at Trio at a crouch with a grin on his face, causing her to shriek with surprise and laughter as he pinned her against her gundam's leg, and proceeded to tickle her mercilessly. I shook my head in amusement, grinning while Wufei rolled his eyes and looked away, Trowa grinning at the ground. "Well, of course!" I twitched an eyebrow up. He admitted it. "That thing is freakin' AWESOME! How the hell did you come up with that on your own?" Duo smirked at the girl and paused when she tried to get her tickle revenge on him only to find that he had no reaction at all. She gave up with a gasp of laughter once Duo started tickling her again, and struggled to breathe amidst the laughter. I was starting to think she'd suffocate when she took matters into her own hands.

"Ho-ee!" I raised my eyebrows as she made a huff of air into a bit of a battle cry and managed to push herself up and away from her gundam's leg, taking Duo with her- much to his surprise- toppling him over onto his back with a victorious look in her eyes as she landed on top of him, and- Trowa blocked my eyes with his hand, and I shot him an irritated look. He was staring straight ahead, so I took hold of his fingers and moved them from of my field of view, and looked to see what happened. Trio was lounging on Duo, not bothering to climb off of him, smirking triumphantly, looking down at him like she had just raised her head from doing something around his head, and Duo was slowly turning beet red. I blinked, a curious frown flitting across my face as I let Trowa's hand slip from my fingers. What just happened?

I watched as the smirk slowly slipped from Trio's face as she watched her best friend's face turn red, as if she was worrying about having done something wrong. Then she blinked, and I watched her face flush as a look of realization dawned on her, and she moved to scramble off of him. At the last minute, Duo's hand shot up to grab her behind the neck, and he pushed himself partially off the ground, and his lips met her cheek dangerously close to her mouth. She looked at him out of the corner of her eyes, and I turned red, covering my eyes. Maybe Trowa had been right to cover my eyes in the first place. Red and golden-blonde didn't go too well together, and I could only think: 'Man, that progressed fast.'

* * *

What the hell just happened? What the _hell_ just happened? I thought, as I stared wide-eyed into the cloudy blue sky. Trio had pushed me over onto my back, and I had tilted myself slightly to the side and curled up a bit instinctively before I landed so that any potential damage was avoided, but then Trio had landed on top of me, and in the space of a second, had pressed her hot, laughing lips to my throat. _Kissing_ my throat, almost as if she was going to bite me like a vampire but softening just before her lips touched skin- in the sensitive area just under my chin, to the right of my adam's apple. It was as if time had stopped for a second, and a fast trail of freezing hot, electrical fire had sped down my spine in an instant, temporarily paralyzing and stunning me, putting me in my current situation. What the hell just happened? What the hell was _that_?

I liked it. I realized suddenly as Trio lifted her lips away from my throat, time speeding up again and I felt a heat start in my stomach and make its way up to my face. That was… well I didn't know what that was, but I certainly never expected that happening. I stared absent-mindedly into the sky, my face growing redder by the moment, and then I felt a pressure on my chest, and I refocused to see Trio moving away, her face red and anxious. _Don't let her go._ I won't. Impulsively, I reacted on my gut desire, reached up and hooked a hand behind her neck, preventing her from moving any more, pushed myself partially off of the ground, and placed a kiss right between her cheek and her lips. She froze, and slowly turned to look at me with, wide, surprised eyes. I searched her eyes for anything that could tell me if I was in the wrong. She was looking at me full-on now, and she was searching through my eyes. Then she smiled. I stopped breathing for an instant. It was a small smile, yes- but it was there.

"Right." I blinked at the sudden intrusion and quirked a frown when I saw Trio's eyes widen in surprise as suddenly she was lifted into the air, and suddenly I felt arms under my own, hefting me to my feet. I looked up and saw Trowa. He looked decidedly silent. Then I looked over and saw Wufei quickly yet carefully setting Trio on her feet. Oh. So he could be nice sometimes. I would've rolled my eyes if I wasn't still so blindsided by what had happened. "Before this goes anywhere, you should tell us more about your gundam, ok?" Wufei suggested, looking down the few inches in their height difference into her eyes. Trio and I both blushed slightly at the insinuation, but she brushed it off with a nod.

"Alright," She said, taking a deep breath and looking for something to say. "Well…" She looked up at her machine. "She's different, as you can see. I built her for speed, so I stream-lined her, starting with the hatch." She said, leading Wufei under the opening the lady-bug-wings made, and pointed, directing his attention upwards. He looked genuinely interested, and she was really getting into the swing of telling him about it. A little monster rumbled to life in the pit of my stomach and let out a quiet warning growl. I frowned, listening in.

"So how do you get in?" He asked.

"Like this." She jumped and smacked the bottom of the lady-bug-wings, and my eyebrows shot up in curious surprise at the action, which caused a rope with several foot holds in it to fall out. Just an average rope, which made me frown. That was fairly primitive compared to the pulley systems we had used on our gundams to get into the cockpits, yet she climbed up it like a monkey and waved Wufei on up. He followed, and the rest of us walked forward to stand under the lady-bug-wings and looked up. My eyes widened and my jaw went slack. Wow. So _that's _where the car doors went. Impressive. Trio and Wufei were crouch-sitting in the curve of the lady-bug-wings, and he was frowning as she pointed to a cavity in her gundam's chest between the doors in which a machine gun was folded up into the recess. "I currently have a 64-caliber machine gun installed in the recess I gave her, but really, she could take anything in there. Pretty much." She mused, looking at it. "I put the wind-shields" she patted the lady-bug-wings she was sitting on and Wufei glanced down to see were her hand was before looking back at the gun. Oh. So that's what they were. "-in to keep to gun and the recess it's in from slowing me down, but it slows me down anyways right before an attack, since I have to open the shields to shoot. I can get the gun out, aim, shoot, back in and the wings closed in a matter of seconds, but I've heard that's when the whistling stops." Ah. So she knew about the rumors. "Now the hatch itself is no different from any other MD's. It just doesn't have a door that swings open like others do…" She climbed up and out of sight, and I frowned as Wufei climbed after her. Two people was probably the maximum weight her gundam could take while on earth, or else I would've climbed up after her in a heartbeat.

Quatre moved to stand beside me, looking up into the space where Trio and Wufei had disappeared. I stared up there stonily, my eyes narrowed slightly. The little monster in my stomach was still letting out it's warning growl, which had gotten a little louder since I couldn't see the aforementioned two anymore.

"She's incredible, isn't she?"

"Yeah." My eyes softened slightly in response to Quatre's question, unaware that he was looking out of the corner of his eyes at me.

"Makes me wonder what she was like before… when you were kids." I lowered my eyes, frowning somewhat sadly in reflection as I looked at the human-esque foot of Trio's gundam. "Duo?"

"I don't think I ever really appreciated her back then." I sighed, bringing my hand up to the back of my neck. "We were five then, of course. Didn't know much about the world but for what Solo taught us. She's half the reason why I'm still alive anyways. Solo was the other half." I went silent, mulling things over. Quatre was looking at me fully now, yet I didn't look up at him. "I helped Solo look after her when we were kids, and she was the one who guaranteed we didn't starve to death on dust bin scavengings or stolen goods." I smiled to myself. "Not that she was much better, of course. She just got more stuff of a better quality." Quatre smiled at me, and that was the end of that conversation as we looked up and moved out of the way as Trio and Wufei climbed down and continued the tour.

* * *

**A/N:** ::Evil Grin::


	8. Meeting Une

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

* * *

"So this is the girl I've heard so much about." We were standing in Une's office, and the woman in question was giving me a very through look-over from behind her desk, lounging back in her leather wheelie chair, her arms crossed and glasses glinting. It made me nervous enough to want to go and hide behind Duo, who was standing with everyone else a few steps behind me. I was holding my right arm nervously with my weight shifted onto one leg, and was trying my hardest not to look at the floor.

A couple days ago, Wufei had waltzed into the house we all lived in at the moment- my constant urge to fly around and never stay in one place for more than a night having vanished upon finding Duo- saying that Une- the head of the Preventers- wanted to meet me. Duo had frowned, but that was the only negative reaction I had seen at the time. So I had changed Bullet back into a car, and Duo and I had worked on putting some temporary extra seats inside her. Hell knows she had the room to do so. Heero had been the back-seat driver and told me how to get to where we needed to go.

"Sound Bullet, pilot of the self-constructed gundam built for speed right? Otherwise known as Trio…?" Crap. I was looking at the floor now. Damn. It had been that one thing that had kept me from looking like I was shrinking away from the desk. I closed my eyes in embarrassment and tried to speak, only to open and close my mouth silently. It was just like when I had first met Noin, only this time… it was more detrimental. There was a stretch of silence during which I noticed that the brown carpet had blonde flecks in it.

"Trio Bullet, Lady Une." I nearly sagged in relief when Quatre stepped up beside me, speaking for me, and Duo stepped up behind me and put his hand on my shoulder, leaning forward slightly to whisper: 'It's ok Trio. She won't hurt you.' I smiled, wryly apologetic, moving my head slightly his way. It wasn't that I was afraid of her hurting me. It was just…this felt too much like a courtroom. "Sound was more of a nickname she made for herself awhile back."

"So why isn't she telling me this herself?" Shit, this really was like an interrogation, and I swallowed nervously before I could stop myself, and Duo pulled me into a one-armed hug. I re-oriented myself right away to fit snugly into his side, his arm over my shoulders a reassuring and comforting weight. I still couldn't look up again. Duo was really warm.

"She gets nervous to the point of not being able to speak in situations like this." Quatre answered, and I felt Duo look behind my head at him. I gave Quatre a subtle mind tap and learned he was going from what he could read off of my current emotions. Well, he was right. My voice seemed to seal itself when I was in these kinds of situations. Lady Une 'hmmm'ed, still evaluating me with her eyes.

"Well, I guess that could be useful if she ever got captured…" She murmured, thinking aloud, and I stiffened like a rock under Duo's arm, causing him to automatically hold me closer, and I glanced up at him. He was half glaring at Une, frowning at her with narrowed eyes. "-but that would be detrimental overall…"

"What are you talking about Une?" He practically snapped, and I unconsciously put my arm around the small of his back. He simmered down. She looked up in surprise.

"Well she's joining the Preventers, isn't she? She can fight right?" My eyes widened in surprise and then I looked at the floor again when she mentioned fighting. I hadn't even thought about joining the Preventers team. I'd just assumed that was the boys' thing. Me, fighting…?

"That was an assumption, Un." Duo said quietly, and I could tell from the sound of his voice that he was looking at me. I could feel Une frown at us. There was a moment of soft silence in which Heero walked forward, looking at Une politely.

"She is the sole survivor of the KOS. She escaped after the rebels caused a commotion near the training facility several years ago." I snapped my head up to look sharply at Heero, my eyes wide. Sole survivor? What? There were rebels in the KOS? That was why my chain had fallen? It must've been shot. I hadn't known any of this. I stared at Heero. Was there anything else he- no -no one else had thought to tell me?

"Looks like this is news to her." I turned my shocked eyes to look at Une, who was looking at me with a softer gaze now, yet still evaluating. "Did you know about this?" I shook my head slowly, too stunned to look away.

"No." I saw a small smile lift her lips, and seeing the kind, human emotion on her face, I started to relax, less intimidated. "They trained me to kill without feeling anything." Duo shifted, and I glanced around the room quickly to see that everyone else had shifted somewhat as well, their eyes on me. This was the first time I had spoken of what had gone on in the KOS, since it appeared that everyone had assumed that everyone else already knew everything. "They used cuffs and shackles rigged with electricity that hung from the ceiling in the training room, with which they used 'correct' rebellious behavior or mistakes; such as dropping your gun or refusing to shoot- which happened quite often with the new kids they had brought in to replace the ones that had died." Duo's arm tightened around my shoulders, most likely frightened at what I was saying, rattling off my experiences with such a straight face. I carried on, emotionlessly. "Suicide wasn't that uncommon, and I had no idea there was an uprising going on in the KOS. All that I was aware of was a scuffle going on outside the training room one day, and my chain fell, dis-connecting the electrical currents, so I shot the man with the keys and got out of there before passing on the key I unlocked my cuffs with to the kid next to me." Heero turned to face me fully, interested in my story.

"So _that's_ why the revolt escalated." He said as if he was having a quiet epiphany, and I looked at him, along with everyone else. He blinked. "When we investigated them, the guy I got the info from didn't know exactly what had happened, just that the in-fighting suddenly got a lot worse, and the child soldiers started overwhelming their superiors. He said they'd been inspired by something. That something must've been you." I gave Heero a small smile.

"I doubt I'm that influential." Heero frowned at me just as a knock sounded on the door.

"Enter." I glanced at Une before the guys and I all turned as one to look as the office door swung open upon Une's call. I blinked. That couldn't be…? A young woman about five years older than me strode into the office, dark hair falling into her eyes as she looked over the paperwork in her hands. I automatically stepped aside as she drew up to us, getting a good look at the side of her face as she passed. I smiled ironically. That was just perfect. It seems that meeting one person from my past brought a deluge of others I hadn't seen for years either. I felt one side of my mouth lift up in a crooked smile as I watched Noin step up to the desk and place the papers on the desk, half-turning to speak to Une, and suddenly noticing that we were all there out of the corner of her eye. She turned to look at us, and I outright smirked.

"Hello Lu." The look on the woman's face was classic. First, complete and total confusion as to how I knew the first syllable of her first name. Then, a blank stare of reflection, followed by a shocked look of recognition, followed by a face that plain and simply said: 'Oh!-My!-God!' her eyes wide and mouth dropping open in the ultimate expression of shocked recognition.

"_Trio_?" she asked, as if not daring to believe it. I grinned and nodded. It played out exactly as I thought it would. Then she suddenly strode forward, making me start for a second in surprise before she practically tore me out from under Duo's arm and wrapped me in an all-encompassing bear hug. I looked up the ceiling in surprise, my chin propped upwards awkwardly against her chest since her tugging me forward had left me leaning backward automatically for balance, and her being taller than me had given me no where else to put my chin. My arms hung out to the sides awkwardly like chicken wings, and suddenly, Noin pushed me away, looking into my eyes excitedly, the hug over as soon as it had begun. "It's been _nine years!_ I thought you were _dead_! My, you have _grown_!" She said, and I blinked in confusion as she accentuated the end of each of her sentences like a little girl who'd found a long-lost puppy. I blinked owlishly at her, at a loss for words. She frowned at me sadly, and I blinked again, confused, tilting my head to the side curiously and realizing that maybe I did act like a puppy around her. I pouted mentally at the thought. "I'm sorry that I was never able to…" she started to say, her hands on my shoulders as she looked up over my head, and I noted her facial expression changing to something positive before she spun me around by the shoulders and suddenly I was facing Duo. We looked at each other in utter confusion. "Here he is!" She exclaimed happily from behind me, and there was a few moments of silence as we all worked out what was going on. I looked up at Duo slowly; a small smile lifting the corners of my mouth. His eyes were shining in amusement. He'd worked it out too.

I burst out laughing.

* * *

"Whoever knew that Noin saw you as a little sister?" Duo said, grinning in the back seat as we headed back towards the house. I smiled into the rear-view mirror at him. Quatre was sitting next to him, squeezed in the middle between him and Trowa, who had the other window seat. Heero sat in the front with me.

"I sure as hell didn't know. I knew she liked me, but I never knew that she saw me as a little sister. Must've taken losing me for her to realize it. They say you never know what you've got until it's gone."

"Yeah…" I heard him murmur quietly in the backseat, but upon the conception of a funny idea, I plowed on.

"Like losing my memories. Thing was… I didn't miss them much." Heero snorted, and I grinned at him, glancing towards him from the corner of my eye. He was smiling at his lap and shaking his head slightly, and I glanced up into the rear-view mirror to see Trowa smirking through the window, Quatre giving a small smile and looking somewhat uncomfortable with his legs crossed so tightly with his shoulders hunched forward between his friends'. Duo looked confused, and I smiled at him. Probably went over his head.

"Of course in your case," I turned an ear towards Heero as he spoke after a moment had passed. "It was more like you didn't miss it until you got them back." I nodded solemnly, all the humor gone. I glanced up at the rear-view mirror. Duo had his chin on his fist, and was gazing out of the window at the scenery passing by.

"Yeah…" I murmured. "I'm just sorry that it took me so long to find them." Duo looked around and I looked down. I needed to concentrate on driving. Quatre frowned at the interaction between the two of us, but let it slide. For now, we needed to get home.


	9. Bruno Mars & Kiss Wars

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N:** R&R.

* * *

"Something's a little bit,

_Miss_-ing,

Something's a little bit,

Wrong…

Something's a little bit,

Out of my sight,

Something's a little bit,

In the other room…" I sighed, washing the dishes. Making up a song as I went along wasn't helping much of anything. I was still feeling just as down as before. Why I felt down, I had no idea. I just did. I stared into the sink, eyes unfocused. My thoughts kept drifting to Duo.

"Sugar pie, Honey-bunch,

You know I love you…" I sang the first thing that came to mind, then stopped. This wasn't working.

"What are you thinking about?" I looked over my shoulder at Quatre, who was leaning against the counter, watching me. I turned back to the sink and shrugged.

"Dunno." I said vaguely. Quatre frowned.

"You're feeling more than nothing."

"True. But doesn't everyone feel something more than nothing?"

"Not everyone." I half-turned and shot Quatre an incredulous look over my shoulder. He smiled a little.

"You're kidding."

"I'm not." I blinked owlishly at him for a moment before turning back to the sink, frowning.

"That's strange." I murmured. "Everyone has to feel _something_ under all that nothing. Even if it's pain or sadness. Or some other weird emotion I can't name. They can't just be _empty_."

"I wish that were true." I paused for a second, frowning in consternation.

"It should be true. If you don't feel anything at all, you wouldn't even be alive. Even animals feel things. Fear, most noticeably. Caution, definitely… anger… happiness… They live very simplistic lives, really… just focusing on staying alive…"

"Yet that doesn't help you." I gave a short, amused laugh and looked into the sink, setting aside the plate I was washing to dry and starting on the pot we had cooked our rice in.

"Yeah… no… I don't know…" I sighed. "I just I'm just tired and looking for something to make me happier." I looked at up at the dark sky through the window that was right in front of the sink, and my eyes landed on the full moon. A sudden wave of nostalgia hit me, and I stopped washing the pot suddenly. "You know." I said suddenly, and Quatre made a noise of recognition, half out of surprise to show that he was listening. "I found out what that song was that Solo used to sing to us the other day," Behind me, Quatre turned his head to the door and smirked. Duo was poking his head around the door, looking very curious, and upon seeing Quatre smirk at him, he came around and leaned on the doorframe, his arms crossed and silent. "It was written by Bruno Mars, and it was called 'Talking to the Moon'. I heard some girls singing it at a Karaoke bar the other day, so I looked it up, and the verses I remembered were the same." I paused, remembering the lyrics, and everything was silent, so I took in a slow, deep breath, and began to sing, nostalgia helping me hit every note.

"I know you're somewhere out there,

Somewhere far away,

I want you back…

I want you back…" The boys looked at me with utter surprise, their eyes wide; and in Duo's case, jaw dropped. I was singing full-throated, not holding anything back, closing my eyes while I did so.

"My neighbors think I'm crazy,

But they don't understand,

You're all I have…

You're all I have…" I frowned in concentration as I got to the lyrics I didn't know by heart.

"At night when the stars,

Light on my room,

I sit by myself…

Talking to the moon…

Trying to get to you…

In hopes you're on the other side,

Talking to me too,

Oh, am I a fool… who sits alone… talking to the moon…

Oooo…

I'm feeling like I'm famous,

The talk of the town,

They say I've gone mad,

Yeah, I've gone mad…

But they don't know what I know,

'Cause when the sun goes down,

Someone's talking back,

Yeah, they're talking back,

Oooh,

At night when the stars,

Light on my room,

I sit by myself,

Talking to the moon,

Trying to get to you,

In hopes you're on the other side, talking to me too,

Oh, am I a fool who sits alone talking to the moon,

Oooh…" the song trailed off then, and so did I, looking back down at the sink from where I'd been staring at the moon all this time, and starting to scrub again. I nearly jumped when I heard more clapping coming from behind me than one person could make. I whipped my head around so fast I nearly put a crick in my neck. Duo was standing in the doorway, smiling appreciatively, and I felt my face heat up, and I saw him stop clapping in surprise before I turned sharply back to the sink, trying to hide my face with my hair. He-heard-me-sing, he-heard-me-sing, he heard me sing! My god… I could sing for anyone but him without getting this embarrassed. I cared about what he thought too much. Plainly said, I was just shy with my singing voice around him.

"Are you _blushing_?" I heard him move aside and walk towards me as Quatre left the kitchen. I didn't move. Quatre, don't leave me! I thought wildly, and I got the mental image of a smirk in return. I frowned in disbelief for a moment, not able to fully get rid of the butterflies as I heard Duo's footsteps come closer. Traitor. Smug smile. What? I thought in confusion, and then Duo was next to me, and I blocked Quatre off. I was suddenly aware that Duo was an inch or two taller than me now, and I swallowed nervously, my face burning a ruby red. I stared into the sink, hair falling into my face, and I felt him gently, carefully push my hair behind my ear, and I kept staring at the pot I was washing, giving the pot a second and then a third scrubbing, still blushing madly. "I reckon the pot's pretty clean by now." I looked up at the amused-sounding observation in surprise, and I saw Duo's violet eyes shining in amusement at point blank. My breath vanished for a moment, and my barriers dropped, and I distantly thought: 'Don't look into the shinigami's eyes…" it was a caption I saw on cartoon on a table in a barbershop that I'd passed by the other day. Sometimes I thought I had photographic memory. I felt a mental mind nudge, and I finished the thought unconsciously. '-He'll steal your soul…' The nudger felt amused, but that was info that went straight into the back of my mind. Seeing Duo's amused, violet eyes at point blank was… lethal in it's… mind-boggling… attractiveness…

He smiled. I blinked, my grip on the pot's handle having gone slack awhile ago, and suddenly, he wrapped his arms around me and hugged me, pulling me to his chest. I went numb automatically in surprise, eyes wide, hand slipping limply from the pot's handle. It was all I could do to keep my back straight as he nestled his chin onto my shoulder. God! Get a grip girl! I thought, and I swallowed as I tried not to let Duo know that I was relying on him to hold me up until I regained the feeling in my legs. I could tell he was feeling affectionate, and absent-mindedly, I pecked him on the cheek, and I felt him freeze. I blinked in surprise, regaining the feeling in my legs and turning my head curiously into his as I took some more of my weight and started to wrap my arms around him in return. Then I felt him turn his head into mine, and I felt his lips kiss my cheek. I grinned over his shoulder. Screw the butterflies; there were fireworks in my stomach now. I kissed him again, and this time his response was quicker. I did it again, and his response was even quicker. I couldn't hold back the giggle this time, and I felt him turn his head into mine curiously. I could feel him smiling. I leaned forward and whispered:

"Kisu no sensou."

* * *

Heero face-palmed on the other side of the door, leaning against the wall, just out of sight. Quatre grinned at him after doing a victorious and silent fist-pump from where he was leaning over with his hands on his knees, trying to get his ear as close to the door as he could without being seen. Heero silently sighed, and what he was thinking was rather obvious. Trio was just like Duo, using the secret language they had been taught in the military- otherwise known as Japanese- frivolously. Noin must've taught Trio much less seriously. Honestly… using Japanese to say 'kiss war'? It was too cute, and _definitely_ not a serious use of the language.

An eruption of giggles came from the kitchen and Heero rolled his eyes and walked away. He'd heard enough. Trowa smiled from where he stood behind Quatre, dirty glass in hand. He'd been waiting to get into the kitchen to wash his water glass, but upon hearing the reason for his having been stalled, he simply smiled, turned and placed it on a nearby table before going back to what he had been doing. Quatre looked around and straightened up. Upon realizing he was alone, his face split into a joyful grin and he did a silent, five-second victory dance. Yes!


	10. Gone

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

* * *

It's been a year since I came here. I was currently dancing out on the lawn, washing Bullet and getting into the little nooks and crannies of her that she didn't have when she was in any other mode than flight- i.e., what the boys called Gundam. Everyone turned 16 last year, and I met Relena for the first time, standing just behind Duo's shoulder when she entered the house, holding onto Heero's arm- her boyfriend. I'd be in hell before I understood how they actually fell in love with each other. Heero had all the interesting qualities of a rock, and in my opinion that made Relena one hell of an interested Geologist. I wonder what she saw in him. Heero was nice, but decidedly stony.

Relena herself was a good girl, though a bit stuffy. Made me as curious as hell to see what she was like when she cut loose. If she ever did. If she stayed like this all her life, married Heero and had kids with him, their kids would definitely be hippies. Supporting the peace, but so sick of the clenched-buttocks-ness, they'd be lying all over the place lethargically and doing whatever the hell they wanted to do. At least, that's what I thought would happen. Kids loved rebelling against authority.

It was a warm summer's day today, about a week after Wufei's 17th, and the radio I'd placed in Bullet was playing jaunty tunes by the Vandellas and the Beatles, the Jackson Five and Elvis Presley. It was a time to be happy, and I smiled while I worked, dancing in the sunshine, Duo working in the garage while I did so. A gentle breeze ruffled the new, light green leaves on the trees, and I smiled, before it happened.

A vision hit me between the eyes like a professional straight punch, like a battering ram knocking the wind out of my chest, and I just had enough time to gasp and let my eyes go wide before everything around me faded into black. I was no longer aware of my body, apart from a slightly cold feeling that was so small I could barely be bothered with it, the play of actions in front of me being much more important.

I saw the house where the boys and I lived, myself standing on the lawn out front, washing Bullet happily while jaunty tunes cascaded from her cockpit, Duo working in the garage as Quatre came out with a couple glasses of water in his hands, a content half-smile on his lips. The scene changed when one of the bushes among the trees rustled unnaturally. A familiar-looking man peered through the bushes, and my heartbeat picked up at the sight of the M-16 he held close to himself as he crouched in a camouflage uniform, the insignia of a black sheep embroidered on his shoulder. My breath caught and my heart froze as I recognized Viktor Skeil- the leader of the welsh Black Sheep gang. He was here for revenge. The vision was shattered as I heard a gunshot reverberate through the air of the lawn of my vision, followed by a pained gasp-scream and a spray of blood erupting from my vision self's chest as she fell to the ground. They're after me. _Get the fuck in the house._ I gasped, and my eyes snapped open as I looked up.

Bullet was standing in front of me, proud and tall in her gundam form as jaunty tunes spilled out of her from the radio in her cockpit. I glanced down just in time to see the bushes rustle, my keen eyes picking out the camouflage uniform and the Black Sheep insignia. I glanced over at the garage, my heart freezing with masked fear as I saw Duo happily working away in the garage, Quatre stepping out with two glasses of water in his hands, content smile turning into a grimace as he felt my fear. Well, that was good. Meant at least he knew something was up. I looked back to the bushes just in time to see the barrel of an M-16 poking out of the bushes, aimed towards me.

_Make a choice._

**BANG!** I ducked behind Bullet's leg as one of her namesakes buried themselves in my shoulder, biting back a yelp of pain as blood began to soak my shirt, my eyes watering as I bit my lip, reaching up with my other hand to try and restrict the blood flow from my now useless arm. There was no way I could climb up into Bullet's cockpit like this, but I had to. We were surrounded. I glanced up at the garage to see both Duo and Quatre standing there on high-alert, shocked beyond belief, and alarmed at the sight of the blood flowing freely down my arm as Heero sprinted into the garage, M-16 clutched in his white-knuckled grip, Wufei on his heels with a pistol, and Trowa coming after him with an assault rifle. What soldiers. I felt warmth flood me at their reaction, but they were moving towards me, and I couldn't have that.

"STAY!" Heero froze at the direct barked order, and he watched me with cold, calculating cobalt eyes. I hoped he'd get what I was going to say. "12-to-12 night! Zero-one to zero-five safe! Trio targeted! Old enemy!" His eyes widened at the concealed message, and I felt a wave of relief at seeing the recognition in his eyes as he turned to scan the surrounding woods. I glanced up into the opening in Bullet's armor that'd allow me to climb up into her cockpit. I frowned in worry, pursing my lips as I felt the looming threat of the enemies in the trees. They'd fire for sure if I moved. But I had to.

Bullet, old girl. I'm going to need you more than ever now. I thought, and I bowed my head solemnly as I rested a regretful hand against her leg. Keep me safe. Keep _them _safe. Please. I sighed, and that was the only preparation I gave myself as I bent my legs, and launched myself straight up, hand releasing my bloody arm to reach up into the darkness, grabbing a hold of the edge of her armor, blood-slicked hand making my grip doubtful before I persevered and swung myself up and out of sight, bullets clanging against gundanium as her armor closed after me.


	11. Dealing with the Stress

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N:** Review please. I hope you enjoy it.

* * *

"She _left!_ She **left**! How could she leave? She's injured! She's safer here! I could help her! What was she _**thinking**_?" Duo paced around the living room of the safe house as he ranted hysterically, voice quivering on the edge of breaking down completely. I watched through one calm, green eye with one hand on Quatre's shoulder as he sat, half-doubled over on one of the living room's sofas, undoubtedly dealing silently with the pain of both Trio being taken out of the picture so suddenly, and Duo's resulting hysteria. His eyes were closed and his face screwed up as he tried to hide it by resting his forehead on his knees. I could tell he was in a lot of pain, by the way his hand was trying to clutch his heart. Trio and him were close, and having the connection severed so suddenly…

No one answered Duo's rant, only the clacking of computer keys filling the silence as Heero worked away mutely at the nearby kitchen counter, trying to find more information to what Trio had given him before taking off. This was how he usually was when one of our own was missing. Wufei was outside, training. He couldn't stand the tense atmosphere.

Trio had flown off in Bullet after shouting at us to stay in the garage, after giving us important information on the location of her assailants, and the one, barest piece of information about who they were. An 'old enemy'. Her taking off had triggered a rain of bullets on her gundam, and Heero had opened fire into the woods, the rest of us except for Quatre and Duo –who were unarmed- following suit. None of us expected an attack on our home. I frowned. Hopefully Trio knew what she was doing. Heero tapped away at his computer keys methodically, and Quatre sighed painfully. I squeezed his shoulder.

"Didn't she once say something about a welsh gang called the Black Sheep?" Duo froze and pivoted on his feet to look at me with wide eyes. I quirked an eyebrow at him, prompting him. Duo blinked owlishly. Quatre sighed in relief as the burden of Duo's hysteria left him, and Heero's typing paused.

"The Black Sheep Gang." He murmured to himself, dropping his eyes to the floor. "They were welsh." He confirmed. "Trio set their base on fire after a year of traveling with them after they captured her, and she freed others who had been taken against their wills by that group as well." He fell silent, and slowly looked up to look at me, violet eyes grim. "She seems to have a sense of goodwill that makes the baddies angry with her. It was just pure luck that KOS self-destructed before they could go after her. If the Black Sheep gang survived the initial burning of their base, and were given time to re-group… they would be out for blood." I watched the braided man through a narrowed, green eye as I watched him spin back into a circular pacing again after sighing as he fiddled with the bottom of his braid. That was always a nervous habit with him. It was hard to get him out of one of his funks when he started fiddling with his braid, but the sadly, there was nothing I could do.

"Would you stop crying over the damn Onna, already!" I blinked and watched as Wufei practically stormed into the room, glaring at the black-clad ex-pilot of the gundam Deathscythe. The man startled, and turned to look at the Asian, who had a towel thrown over his shoulder as if he'd just wiped his sweat away with it. Duo's eyes narrowed dangerously, his mouth opening. "Her taking herself out of the picture was a low blow for all of us, so don't go drowning yourself in worthless guilt that'd only slow us down, baka. She left on her own." Duo blinked, surprised, Quatre now being able to sit up- still wincing, but not in as much pain as before. Wufei had taken whatever proverbial wind there had been, out of Duo's metaphorical sails, leaving the man gaping at him, because even _he_ had to admit that he had a point. Duo frowned and sighed before casting his eyes to the ground. I felt Quatre grimace under my hand before speaking up.

"She may not have been trained like we were, but that doesn't mean that she doesn't have the skills necessary to keep herself out of harm's way, Duo." He said, causing Duo to look at him. "I know you two have something, and that it's natural for you to worry about her, but worrying any more than necessary will only prolong the amount of time we spend looking for her, not shorten it. So please, try your best to…" Here, Quatre searched for an appropriate word as Duo watched him with an incredulous raised eyebrow, not all of the emotional pain he was going through gone, but less heavy at the least. Quatre was no longer grimacing, so that was a good sign. "-relax. We **will** find her." Duo had looked away once Quatre had asked him to relax, but blinked when he heard the steely determination in the blonde's voice.

I watched as Duo sighed and grabbed the end of his braid, head down, walking out the door Wufei had come in through, the Chinese man watching him with a frown as he went. Duo had always felt his emotions strongly, and he did everything loudly. His personality was just loud and strong, and it had always been that way. He was an American, it was who he was. An emotionless Duo would be… frightening, but… because of all of his emotions, falling in love would compromise rational thought. We'd have to leave him out of the fight to get Trio back. He'd be a liability.

The door pulled shut with the sucking sound of a vacuum, and a moment passed were we all processed what had just happened before I looked up and met Heero's eyes.

"Find anything?" He nodded silently, and I tapped Quatre on the shoulder before I walked over to his side, looking at the screen as we gathered by Heero's side, and explained the plan in dull, soft undertones, making sure that Duo, sitting on the porch with his head in his hands- couldn't hear.

* * *

"**I am GOING Heero!**" Duo's furious shout made the walls quiver, and minute amounts of dust fall down from the ceiling from the sheer volume and power of his voice. I wouldn't be surprised if Heero went temporarily deaf from standing so close to him, but then again, Heero practically _was_ superhuman, so I wouldn't be surprised if he didn't.

Duo wasn't taking the news well, to say the least, and Quatre and I were doing the wise thing and staying out of it, in my opinion, although Wufei looked like he wanted some of the action going on at the moment. It had been a week since Heero'd first dug up useful information on the Black Sheep gang, and Duo was objecting very strongly to our refusing to let him come with us to take them down.

"Trio is going to need someone to come home to. Who better than her boyfriend?" was Heero's calm, nearly emotionless response, and Duo's spluttering reaction would've been comical if the situation hadn't been so serious.

"She will be at the fight! I wouldn't be surprised if she was already trying to take them down herself, having infiltrated them, trying to take them down from the _inside_!" Silence. He had a point. Duo knew Trio better than any of us, except for maybe Quatre, who was like a brother to her. Duo and Trio were alike in so many ways, and different in so many others. We all had formed a friendship with her, and she always made us smile and laugh when she had the time to, if she thought we were down or being too serious, which was another trait she and Duo shared. Duo had a point, and it made us take him seriously, realizing that we hadn't thought of that ourselves. The silence was now grim and I could practically feel the penetrating stare Heero was giving Duo myself. Duo stared back, lips pressed into a thin line, blue-violet eyes narrowing but not looking away. He was not going to back off.

"You're sure of that?"

"As sure as I know myself." Duo responded quickly, sure in his answer, and he brought his shoulders back sub-consciously as he half-glared at the former Wing pilot. "I am _going_ with you. I know her best, and I can find her and keep her safe. That's half of the mission. The other half is taking down the Black Sheep, and I will listen to you after we have Trio safe and with us again."

"A fight isn't safe."

"With me, it is." Heero sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as he looked at the Mexican tiles of the kitchen floor of the safe house. Duo could be as stubborn as an ass, and that trait was showing through strongly at the moment. Heero looked up at me for my judgment, and I nodded. We weren't getting rid of him. If we left without him, he'd follow us, and that would ruin the mission. It would be better to clue him in, so he wouldn't be completely lost. Heero sighed and looked up at him.

"Fine."


	12. Infiltrate

**Disclaimer:** I don't own anything I didn't create.

**A/N: **Heh, heh, heh... XD I found out a way to make this chapter both longer, and more evil! XD Which is the cliff-hanger of course. XD ::evil grin::

* * *

Duo knew me well. I was exactly where he said I'd be, but first I'd had to make a very special trip.

"Holy flying, flipping, fucking shit mate, what the fuck _happened_ to you!" I was in South Africa, and that was my friend Chipo.

"Oh my _god, _she needs a doctor, and fast!" That was her twin brother, and also my friend Katlego, as he caught me after I fell out of my gundam after their super-technological sun dome opened up to receive me after their security system recognized me and let me land.

"You!" Chipo pointed at a freaked out maid holding a silver tray abruptly, and the poor traumatized woman jumped about a foot and a half as Katlego gathered me carefully into his arms. "Go get our family doctor! Now!"

"Yes!" The poor woman yelped, saluting before turning on her heel and sprinting off as fast as she could, back of her short, black skirt flying up without a care in the world as Katlego carried my half-conscious, blood-covered self carefully bridal-style towards the couches they had in their sun garden of palm trees and other exotic plants, the sun dome closing up after I had passed through. It was a heck of a lot slower than Bullet was, and that's probably was made it seem ancient, even though it was made of the most recent technology.

You've probably guessed it by now, but Chipo and Katlego are filthy rich. Your first guess at what their parents do for a living is probably correct. Their mother is the CEO for what used to be the Samsung, Nokia, and Toyota industries, which had merged together a few generations ago, and was now called the Toiasun Technology Inc., and their father was the CEO for a company I couldn't remember the name of, but used be the Ford, Jeep, Solar, and Verizon industries combined with the entire south African gun industry- which was a booming business during the war, but had now switched completely into manufacturing anti-war products. So basically, their family was full of technology geeks. They built the entire skyscraper they lived in, keeping the top two floors to themselves, and renting everything else. Which brought in good money, because 'everything else' was highly technological too.

Katlego and Chipo had backed away from the couch Katlego had put me on, and their doctor extracted the bullet from my shoulder after having injected me with morphine and making me feel all loopy. At least I hadn't been in any pain.

Chipo and Katlego were 18 years old, two years older than I was, and one year older than Wufei and Trowa- and were blasians- black Asians- their mother being Chinese, and their father a native African. They were the ones who had helped me make Bullet how she was today. I had originally made her from ceramic, since that was the only resource I had had at the time of making her. I had taken her for a test drive and lost control over her, and had crashed through their sun dome before losing consciousness. I was honestly surprised that they hadn't reported me to the police, instead taking an interest in how I'd designed Bullet- although they had no qualms about using it as threat to keep me where I was. I was there for about two weeks, engrossed with them in upgrading Bullet and improving her design and systems based upon my original design of her. They were the ones who had mass ordered the red gundanium and golden gundurium. They were the ones who had ordered the equipment I had needed to rebuild her, they had been the ones to keep the security around me tighter than microscopically tight, and they were the ones that had watched in utter fascination as I rebuilt Bullet from scratch, making her better than ever before, thanks to many of their ideas. I owed them a lot of things, though they wouldn't hear of my owing them anything, simply grateful that they had been able to witness and be a part of something so fantastical from their point of view, and I had come here to ask them for another favor.

The Black Sheep Gang knew what I looked like. The last time I had seen them, they had had a butler who had a passion for cosmetics, masks and everything that revolved around 007. I came to them for his services.

So now, after having fully healed- thanks to Chipo absolutely refusing to let me go until I was in top-notch condition; Katlego refusing to let me go until he had fully polished, primed and did whatever he did to tune up Bullet so well; and their butler refusing to let me go until I had everything that he could think that I could or would need in my mission(not that I would've left any sooner, since that was what I'd come for – but he _was _a fanatic)- I was in the base of the Black Sheep mini-mafia. Which was what they were, really. Chipo's butler's disguises were good. Really good. I had knocked out a guard and taken his clothes, and now I was impersonating a man, with all my bases covered. Seriously. And no, you don't want to know what I mean by that.

I had been here for three days, sleeping in Samuel Wrak's room, never taking off my mask, and studying the mini-mafia from the inside, when the alarms went off. I grabbed Samuel Wrak's M-45, ran with everyone else like we did during the daily drills, expression blank and emotionless to face the intruders, gun to my shoulder. My mask was made to contort with my facial expressions, like another layer of skin, but it hid my expression far better than I could've hidden it with my own face, ice rushing through my heart as I- thankfully at the back of the group- ducked behind a corner, staring at the opposite wall with wide eyes, adrenaline making my heart thrum like a hummingbird.

The boys were here.

* * *

Quatre's eyes widened as he felt a familiar sense of emotion that wasn't his own, filling his chest. He gasped and pressed himself against the wall behind him, pressing his hand to his heart, closing his eyes and giving a half-smile, relieved to be feeling Trio's energy again. I caught his actions out of the corner of my eye, and fell back, covering him as he did what he did best, watching Wufei's back as he opened fire into the enemy ranks, marching towards us in regiments.

"She's here Duo." I glanced down at the blonde, where he was half crouched against the wall, eyes closed and frowning in concentration. That was quite a display of trust, having his eyes closed, even if we were all wearing Kevlar vests, something could still happen. We could be shot in the head, as we weren't wearing anything protective over our noggins, preferring mobility over protection. I gave Quatre my ears, and the opposing ranks my eyes. "She's confused, frantic." Quatre observed, and I frowned, shooting a soldier in the stomach with a rubber bullet, knocking him out and making him bleed. "She's been surprised, and is trying to come up with another plan. She's not talking to me, but it seems like our turning up threw a wrench in her plans." I gave a short, bitter laugh, shooting another man in the thigh, and then another in the shoulder, shooting continuously and never missing the mark. Sounded just like her.

"Sounds just like the Onna." I heard Wufei mutter, showing me that he was listening, even as he continuously shot into the crowd, standing a little further away from us. I smiled bitterly.

"She's afraid we won't recognize her." I blinked at Quatre's statement. What?

"She's in disguise?"

"Yes. As a man. I just got a glimpse of her reflection."

"Wow. That's a piece of work. I'd like to know where she got that disguise."

"From some friends in South Africa."

"… Are you _sure_ she's not talking to you?"

"…she taught me well."

"Ha." I wuffed a soft laugh, a small, genuine smile pulling at the corners of my mouth. Quatre and Trio could be like twins at times, and fond memories started to fill my brain as I spotted danger at the same time Quatre gasped. Wufei's back was turned, and an enemy soldier was sneaking up from behind. In an instant, I had my gun up, and pulled the trigger.

Click. Click, click. _Click-click-click!_ It's jammed! SHIT!

"Wufei!" The Chinese man jumped at my yell as the sniper behind him kneeled and raised his gun in one smooth motion as I tossed mine away. Quatre gasped and reached out for me as I thoughtlessly raced out of his reach, the sniper pulling the trigger, and the bullet leaving the barrel.

**BANG!**

"Duo!

"You _idiot!_"


End file.
